Beware the Black Crystals
by Blackford
Summary: When magical black crystals threaten Agrabah, Aladdin and his friends must work together as a team to save the city.
1. Chapter 1

**Beware the Black Crystals**

_Characters (c) are owned by Walt Disney Corp._

One morning in Agrabah, a merry rhythm could be heard proceeding from the walls of the city's majestic palace. It was only soft, faint sound from the outside, but as one drew nearer to the palace's prodigious white towers, one could gradually hear the melodic sonority grow clearer and clearer. The lively music was issuing from within a small gold-colored lamp sitting on a table in the palace throne room, and the lamp was vaguely rocking from side to side in time to the harmony's rhythm. For inside the seemingly commonplace object was none other than the Genie of the Lamp himself, playing music for his personal entertainment as he prepared to start a new day.

Genie was taking a shower inside the lamp, running hot water in his personal shower stall and wearing a yellow shower cap while scrubbing himself with a bath brush. The big blue jinn had turned on his stereo and placed it right next to the shower stall so he could listen to music while showering. He enjoyed turning on songs devised by musicians who would not exist in the world until hundreds or thousands of years in the future. Genie's stereo was playing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! as Genie jammed to the pop melody inside the shower stall.

"Yeah!" Genie enthused as he scrubbed his back with the bath brush. "Nothin' like a hot shower and some hot tunes to start off the day!" He danced a merry jig in the shower as the stereo blared away.

Genie boisterously sang along to the music as he leaped about in the shower. The melodic sounds rose up from inside the lamp and echoed throughout the throne room.

Outside the lamp, Aladdin came walking into the throne room. He had woken up earlier and had been looking to greet his friends. Aladdin chuckled when he heard the rollicking music issuing from the lamp and heard Genie's riotous singing accompanying it.

"Hey Genie, how are you?" Aladdin called to the lamp. But Genie didn't answer. Instead, more music and more singing continued to reverberate through the lamp.

Genie's voice was playfully ringing out in song along with the lyrics playing away on the stereo.

Aladdin smiled and figured that Genie couldn't hear him over the music, so he called more loudly.

"Good morning, Genie!" he said. Inside the lamp, there was slipping noise and a thud.

"Whoa!" Genie's voice came from the lamp. "Oh man! I slipped on the soap!"

A second later, a puff of smoke emerged from the lamp's spout, and Genie materialized in the throne room after leaving the lamp. A big grin enveloped the blue jinn's cheerful face at the sight of his best buddy.

"Morning, Al!" he said. "I was just taking a shower and jammin' to some tunes. I'm telling ya, some of those pop songs are gonna be really big in the future! Others will just be annoying, but hey, what can you do?" Genie shrugged and wiped himself dry with his bath towel.

"Great to see you, Genie," Aladdin said. "I was going to see if the Sultan needed help with anything, like charting a trade route or launching a diplomatic mission. He's in his study working on a few things."

Genie magically transformed himself into an elegant public official wearing elaborate eighteenth-century garments. "My dear friend, we shall indeed address these most important matters of state," he said in an English accent. "The welfare of king and country summons us to duty!"

"That's right," Aladdin nodded. "I like to help when I can. But I've still got a lot to learn about taking care of a kingdom. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'll ever get the hang of it."

Genie changed back to himself and clapped Aladdin on the back. "Don't you worry, Al. One day, you are going to be a terrific sultan. You've got real strength of character, buddy—I know, because I see it every day. You're a great guy, and I know Agrabah is going to be grateful to have you."

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin said with an appreciative smile. "I hope you're right. I've lived so much of my life as a street rat that the whole idea of governing a kingdom sounds pretty intimidating."

Just then, there was a rush of air through the palace throne room as Aladdin and Genie's old companion, the Magic Carpet, flew in. Vibrantly resplendent in all of his multicolored silk cloth and gold tassels, Carpet soared through the air to greet his friends.

"Hey, rug man, lookin' spiffy as always, bro," Genie said as he slapped Carpet a high five on the right tassel. Carpet then swooped down and embraced Aladdin in a big bear hug.

"Hi, Carpet," Aladdin grinned as he was pulled into Carpet's hug. "Good to see you, too."

"Awww, that's so cute," Genie said. "You see, Al? Good ol' Carpet here believes in you, too. Right, rug boy?"

Carpet nodded vigorously and gave two thumbs up with two tassels.

"It's nice of you to say that, guys," said Aladdin. "But I don't know. It's always been hard enough for me to handle fighting some giant monster on one of our adventures. How am I going to be able to handle an entire kingdom?"

"You'll get the hang of it, Al," Genie assured. "Just you wait, it'll be just like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you learn how, you never forget!"

Aladdin looked confused. "Uh…what's a bicycle?"

Genie smacked his face with one hand. "Oops, sorry! My bad! I keep forgetting that you haven't seen everything I have. Here, I'll show you."

With a wave of his hand, Genie conjured up a bicycle in the middle of the throne room and immediately hopped into the seat. "Look how easy it is to ride this thing, Al!" he shouted as he started peddling. "Gang way!"

"Genie! Don't ride that thing in the throne room!" Aladdin yelled out. "You might break something!"

But he was too late. Genie was already speeding across the marble floor on the bicycle, with Carpet hanging onto Genie's shoulders as they tore around the room on the two-wheeler. Genie was peddling so fast that he didn't even see that he was on a collision course with a table and chairs.

"Genie, watch out!" Aladdin shouted.

"What'd you say, Al?" Genie called back.

CRASH! The bicycle rammed into the table and chairs, and Genie and Carpet both went flying through the air and landed with a thud on the floor. The pieces of furniture scattered all over the marble floor as Aladdin winced at the sight of the crash.

Genie picked himself up off the floor. "Yeesh. Sorry, Al. I got carried away again."

"Oh, it's okay," Aladdin said. "But do you think you can fix the furniture?"

"No sweat," Genie replied. He waved his arms and magically reassembled the table and chairs back into place.

"Whew!" Aladdin breathed a sigh of relief. "At least we won't have to explain that mess to anyone. And speaking of messes, has anybody seen Abu and Iago?"

Carpet shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had not seen the monkey or the parrot that morning. Genie transformed himself into a Sherlock Holmes-like detective, complete with hat and pipe, and assumed a knowing expression on his face.

"It's quite elementary, my dear boy," he said. "Whenever your incorrigible animal friends are missing without a trace, it generally means they have wandered into some place where they shouldn't be wandering, and have done so in order to procure something which they shouldn't possess."

"You know, I never did see Abu or Iago during breakfast," Aladdin realized. "That probably means—the kitchen!"

Aladdin, Genie and Carpet raced toward the palace kitchen. When they entered the room, everything was quiet, but there were traces of food spilled and scattered across the floor. Someone clearly had been in the room and had been eating. As Aladdin stepped further into the kitchen, he heard the sound of the munching of food somewhere in the room. It was just as a he thought—Iago and Abu were in here somewhere raiding the food stocks for an extra big breakfast. He followed the munching sound to a cabinet above the counter, and then he flung the cabinet's doors open.

Inside, Abu and Iago were sitting on the cabinet shelves eating various foods stacked within the cupboard. The monkey and the parrot, startled by Aladdin's sudden intercession, jumped in fright, with Abu chattering nervously and Iago letting out an appalled squawk. Caught red-handed, the animals cringed as Aladdin scowled at them.

"Abu! Iago!" Aladdin shouted. "I've caught you! You two know what I've told you before about raiding the kitchen!"

"It was the monkey's fault!" Iago claimed. "He's the thief! I just came in here to try to convince him to stop stealing the food!"

Abu reacted to Iago's accusation with a stream of loud, angry chatter. In his monkey talk, he was clearly calling Iago a liar. Aladdin, of course, knew very well that the monkey and parrot had conspired together to steal food from the palace's stocks.

"When will you two learn to behave?!" he scolded. "I've warned you about things like this! I ought to take away your palace privileges as punishment!"

Iago's jaw dropped. "You mean—you'd kick us out of the palace?!" he whimpered.

"That's right," Aladdin said. "You'd have to go live in my old hovel in the city for a while until you learn to behave yourselves."

"Don't kick us out! Pleeeeease!" wailed Iago. He and Abu grabbed Aladdin's arms as they pleaded for forgiveness.

"It was just a little snack!" Iago blubbered. "It won't happen again! I don't wanna lose my beautiful life of palace luxury!"

Abu jabbered noisily in agreement.

"Fine, fine," Aladdin relented. "But you two have to clean up this mess in here by yourselves. And no more causing trouble, understand?"

Abu and Iago humbly agreed and set about cleaning up the food they had spilled in some parts of the kitchen. Just as the two animals had begun their work, the doors to the kitchen opened once again. Into the room stepped Princess Jasmine, freshly spruced up for the day.

"Good morning, everyone," she said sweetly. Then she looked around the messy kitchen and asked, "What happened here?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, princess," Genie said. "Just a couple of overly pampered pets trying to squeeze out a little extra chow."

"I'm having Abu and Iago clean up the mess they made in here, Jasmine," Aladdin said.

Jasmine rolled her eyes at the two animals. "Ohhhh, you two! You're always into some kind of mischief. Ever heard of self-control?"

Iago put on a sheepish, embarrassed grin. "I'm kind of a slave to my passions, princess," he said meekly.

"Iago, it's not as if you don't already live a more luxurious life than the average bird," Jasmine pointed out.

"Hey, this kitchen is loaded with obscenely rich, flavorful entrees!" Iago protested. "And I can smell it all over the palace! How can I help it if I'm attracted to the savory aroma of high-class cooking when it's right there?! It's entrapment, I tell ya! Entrapment!"

Abu tapped Iago on the shoulder and mumbled something to him to let him know that he should drop the subject and get back to work. Iago sighed and rejoined Abu for the cleaning job.

Jasmine turned to her fiancée. "Aladdin, Father's ready when you are to go over the issues of state for today. He knows that you will be a lot of help."

"I sure hope I can be," Aladdin said. "Let's go to it."

Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie and Carpet left the kitchen while Abu and Iago continued with the cleanup. As Aladdin headed for the Sultan's study, he considered how strange he felt helping the Sultan of Agrabah with anything. Even though he had been doing this kind of stuff for a while now (ever since he first became engaged to Jasmine), he could never quite get used to it. A former peasant boy from the streets offering consultation on the kingdom's public affairs? Aladdin still couldn't believe he had made it this far. He wondered how long he could keep it up.

* * *

Later that day, Aladdin and Jasmine were standing together on the palace balcony overlooking the city. Aladdin had finished going over the day's policy matters with the Sultan, including a few new trade agreements that Agrabah was planning to negotiate with neighboring kingdoms. Now that the meeting was over, Aladdin was content to spend some time with Jasmine and enjoy the rest of the day. He and Jasmine held hands, with Jasmine using her other hand to stroke his arm. Aladdin pensively took in the soft, soothing touch of Jasmine's gentle fingers as he stood beside her, snuggling close to her body and savoring the tender comfort of their intimacy.

Never far from Aladdin's thoughts was the ever-present realization that Jasmine was truly a living symbol of all that was good and benevolent in his life. She was the rock of his life, the woman whose love provided the fundamental support structure of happiness and stability in his world. To know that Jasmine would eternally be a part of him, and he a part of her, was…no two ways about it…blissful. More wonderful than Aladdin could find the words to describe. It was simply the most perfect thing he could imagine.

Jasmine had chosen him, a common urchin, over all of the countless men of high breeding who might have been her bridegroom. Despite the fact that he possessed nothing of worldly value, she had gazed into his soul with those almost hypnotically vibrant eyes of hers, and she had seen something in him which she found more valuable than anything else. Aladdin had felt the same way when he had first looked into Jasmine's soul and perceived her as the extraordinary person she was. It was a beautiful feeling. Totally beautiful.

As the two lovebirds continued to look out at the city from atop the balcony, Aladdin again found himself thinking about what a challenge it would be to someday bear the responsibility for this city's well-being. His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because Jasmine soon took notice.

"You have something on your mind, Aladdin," she said with a knowing, teasing smile. "You're thinking very deeply. I know you. You can't fool me, my love. Come on, out with it. No secrets among fiancées."

She playfully tousled Aladdin's hair with her hands, and Aladdin chuckled in response.

"I was just thinking about the future, Jasmine," Aladdin said. "Someday I'm going to be responsible for all of Agrabah. I'll be doing all of the things your father does. Having that kind of responsibility….it makes me kind of nervous. I haven't been brought up to handle this type of job. I sometimes wonder how I can possibly do it."

Jasmine gently took Aladdin's hand in hers again. "You're not alone, Aladdin. Thinking about our responsibility to the people of Agrabah is very overwhelming. I know, because I've felt the same nervousness you have."

Aladdin sighed. "Glad it's not just me. But still…it's especially daunting for someone like me. At least you know all about the duties of royalty. Me, I hardly know anything."

"I think you know much more than you give yourself credit for," Jasmine assured him. "You've been such a help to Father because you have a keen understanding of how to work with others and how to serve the people's needs. You understand people better than almost anyone else here at the palace, because you lived among ordinary people all your life. That type of experience is invaluable for anyone who is going to rule a kingdom someday."

Aladdin appeared flattered and gave a shy smile. "It's really nice of you to say that, Jasmine," he said. "I'd like to think I can do good things for the city. I just hope I can persuade the people to accept a street rat as their sultan. Why, it's hard enough to get _myself_ to accept that idea!"

"Aladdin, you are so much more than a street rat," Jasmine insisted. "You are a kind-hearted, caring person, and you have been gifted with so much intelligence-!"

"Not as much intelligence as you've been gifted with, Jasmine," Aladdin interjected earnestly.

Jasmine blushed and kissed his cheek. "You're sweet. Thank you. But I want you to know that I meant every word I said. Your intelligence, your compassion, your basic human decency….it all adds up to the wonderful person you are! It's why I love you, and it's why I know you will be an outstanding sultan one day. Father knows this, too; he's so proud of you, Aladdin, and so am I."

Aladdin felt himself growing more relaxed and comfortable. "All I really want to do is justify the faith you and your father have in me. I want to do good deeds for the people of Agrabah, I want to make a difference…you know what I mean. But I need to learn more. This morning, it was hard enough for me to manage Genie, Abu, Iago and Carpet with all their antics. Imagine what I'll have to go through managing a whole nation!"

Jasmine laughed. "Actually, if you can handle those four guys all the time, you may be better-prepared to handle a kingdom than you think!" She leaned casually on the balcony's railing as she kept talking. "But like I said, you aren't the only one who has to learn. I have a lot left to learn, too. And we'll both learn together over time. Getting used to royal duties takes time, but you are starting with a huge advantage, Aladdin: your moral character. That's the first thing any good leader needs."

"Then that means you will be a great sultana, Jasmine," Aladdin said. "I'm so happy you'll be with me through it all."

Jasmine dipped her head appreciatively as she favored her fiancée with a grateful smile. Aladdin could never get over just how enchanting that smile of hers was.

"You know I will," she told him. "And no one understands the stresses and pressures of royal life better than I do. It's why I ran away from the palace all that time ago, and it's how I met you."

"How could I forget?" Aladdin nodded. "I guess the stress can get to anyone."

"That's for sure," Jasmine said. "Even with all my experience in the palace, I just had to get away when the royal life started to impose itself unfairly on me as a person. I just couldn't take it anymore!" She then blushed and exhibited a sheepish grin.

Aladdin smiled. It was sometimes easy for him to forget that Jasmine had anxieties and uncertainties similar to his own. This was because she always seemed so confident in everything she did, and it was something Aladdin admired about her. But of course, she was still human, just like him, and as far as Aladdin was concerned, that made things even better. To know that the two of them could face their problems together, and fight their mutual anxieties as a team, was a very comforting thought.

"I'm glad you did what you did, or else I would never have known you," Aladdin said as he gave Jasmine a hug. "You're the most precious thing in the world to me, Jasmine."

While they embraced, Aladdin asked, "Would you like to go for a ride around the city before dinner?"

"I'd like that very much," Jasmine softly affirmed.

Aladdin gave a whistle, and a second later, Carpet came flying out of the palace and onto the balcony. He danced merrily in the air to show that he was ready for a flight through Agrabah.

"Carpet, we're looking to take a quick flight over the city for some fresh air," Aladdin said.

Carpet reached out with two tassels and brought the two lovers close together. Since he was the romantic type, Carpet enjoyed helping Aladdin and Jasmine to have a good time whenever possible. Carpet then moved into position, and Aladdin and Jasmine happily leapt onto his back.

Carpet took off, soaring into the sky above the shining white towers of the palace and flying through the air over the rooftops of the city. Aladdin and Jasmine contentedly took in the picturesque scenery and the fresh air as they sat together on their magic carpet's woven silk.

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, vendors were still selling their goods in the marketplace. In one corner of the bazaar area, a jewelry merchant was marketing the various glittering items on display in his vendor's stand.

"Come buy your jewelry here!" he called. "The finest craftsmanship in Agrabah is right here!"

A bearded man wearing a red turban passed walked up to the jewelry stand and looked interestedly at the merchandise. The customer was about to speak to the merchant when a strange noise that sounded a bit like thunder was heard. Both the customer and the jewelry merchant looked anxiously in the direction of the sound. What they saw up in the air above them was a shock to behold.

A strange circular hole had opened up in the middle of the air, as if the fabric of space and time had been cleaved. The hole's center displayed nothing but an empty blackness, while its rim swirled and writhed with a white mist similar to a sorcerer's brew. Then, out of the hole came a floating object—a black crystal with sharply defined angles and faces, molded in a dodecahedron geometrical shape. Its design was similar to a milk saucer or a teacup, and it was about the size of an average soup bowl. The crystal came floating out of the black hole, and it hovered in the air like a flying saucer.

The merchant and the buyer gasped at the sight of the crystal and started to run away. But the black crystal floated after them, and then, from one of its geometrical faces, it generated a beam of white light which engulfed the buyer. The bearded man cried out as the light ray grabbed him, and it sucked the man directly into the interior of the crystal!

The jewelry merchant desperately ran for his life, but when he looked over his shoulder, another black crystal floated out of the hole in space! It was identical to the first crystal, and it flew after the merchant faster than he could run. Soon it overtook him, fired a beam of mystical white energy and ensnared the merchant, dragging the man into the crystalline structure.

The two crystals then flew through the air back toward the open portal floating in space, carrying their prisoners within them. The crystals reentered the portal, and then the black hole closed itself, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

* * *

In a worn-down, destitute home located in an impoverished part of the city, a poor woman was preparing to put her two children to bed. The woman was mother to a daughter of about eight years old, and a son of about five years old. As the girl and boy rolled around playfully on the floor of their scanty sleeping quarters, their mother came into the room to help them into their nightclothes.

"Alright, you two, it's been a long day," she gently told them. "Time to get ready for bed. Come along, children."

But as the mother spoke, a loud rumbling sound suddenly filled the room and echoed throughout the small home, seeming to shake the house to its foundations. The woman cried out in terror, and she instinctively crouched down on the floor and clutched her two children in her arms, drawing them close to her to protect them from whatever might be causing the shocking disturbance. The girl and boy, with visibly frightened expressions on their faces, hugged their mother tightly.

The rumbling continued, and then a flash of light appeared in the room. A black hole wreathed in white mist suddenly took shape in the air above the mother and her two children, and out of the hole came three floating crystals as black as tar.

"Run! _Run_!" the mother screamed. Her two children scrambled to do just that, with their mother pushing them along. But the three crystals flew above them, and as they hovered in mid-air, they each unleashed a ray of shimmering white light.

The three white beams of energy each trapped a victim—the mother, the girl and the boy—like three glowing snares, and they pulled their captives into the inside of each crystal. Now each of the three crystals held one of the three prisoners, and now the helpless captives were frozen within their confinements. They did not move or speak, but only stared without consciousness through their crystalline prisons, exhibiting expressions of dire fear frozen on their faces.

The three airborne black crystals floated back into the dark hole in space from which they came, and the hole disappeared into nothingness.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the palace, Aladdin and Jasmine had arrived home from their ride atop Carpet. Their faithful flying friend carried them back to the balcony and hovered close to the balcony's stone floor to allow the two lovers to disembark. Carpet then followed Aladdin and Jasmine onto the balcony.

"Oh Carpet, thank you so much for the ride," Jasmine said happily as she petted the magic carpet affectionately with her hand. "You're always the sweetest."

Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet walked back into the palace throne room, where they found Genie entertaining the Sultan. Genie was performing numerous magical tricks and transforming himself into various wacky objects, animals and people while the Sultan laughed merrily at these antics. Nearby the Sultan's throne, the palace's animals were sitting and watching Genie's little show. Abu, Iago, and Jasmine's pet tiger Rajah looked on as Genie went through numerous transformations.

Genie saw Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet entering the throne room. "Hey! The lovebirds are back!" he shouted. "Come on, you guys! Be part of the audience!"

As he spoke, Genie made his arms elongate and caused his hands to grow to a huge size. Reaching across the room with his elongated arms, he grabbed Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet with his now-giant hands and then set them down on the steps below the Sultan's throne.

"Whoa!" Aladdin and Jasmine said simultaneously. They had certainly been taken by surprise by Genie's sudden grabbing of them with his giant hands, but they laughed anyway because it was funny.

"Ah, Jasmine!" the Sultan said cheerfully. "I'm so glad that you and Aladdin arrived when you did. We're having quite a lot of fun!" He laughed again as he watched Genie change himself into a circus juggler, juggling several balls while riding a unicycle across a circus tightrope he had conjured up.

"Thanks, Father. We had quite a pleasant time ourselves." Jasmine stood up to kiss her father on the cheek before sitting back down next to Aladdin.

Genie transformed himself into a blue tiger next, and he walked up to Rajah on all fours in his tiger form. The sight of the two tigers staring at each other face-to-face made everyone laugh. Genie, as a tiger, displayed a broad, toothy grin in front of Rajah, while Rajah looked puzzled, not knowing what to make of this blue tiger.

"From one tiger to another, let's dance!" shouted Genie. He grabbed Rajah and pulled him out into the middle of the throne room. With his magic, Genie made Rajah stand on two legs instead of four. Then, standing on two legs himself, Genie grabbed the surprised tiger and started leading him in a waltz across the throne room floor, with waltz music playing in the background. Everybody laughed at the sight of two tigers waltzing all over the room.

"We big felines gotta stick together!" Genie declared to Rajah, who looked quite stunned as he was led around in a dance. Then Genie broke the spell and returned Rajah to his place in the audience next to Abu and Iago. Everyone in the throne room laughed and clapped. At first Rajah looked perplexed, but when he saw how happy everyone was, he smiled as well.

"That was most entertaining, Genie!" the Sultan said as Genie took a bow.

"Of course!" Genie affirmed as he transformed himself into Tigger from _Winnie the Pooh_ and started bouncing around. "Entertainin' is what Tiggers do the best!"

"It was really funny, Genie," Aladdin said with a smile.

"I actually think you may have worn out Rajah with that act," Jasmine giggled. "I'll have to put him to bed now."

Iago let out a yawn. "Yeah, I could use some shut-eye myself. As soon as I get a quick bite at dinner, I'm turning in for the night."

"Well then," the Sultan said, "why don't we all go eat now? Then everyone can get some rest. And by the way, Aladdin, thank you very much again for helping me to draft those trade agreements. You were very helpful to me."

"Well, thank you, Your Highness," Aladdin said. "I tried my best. But you have so much experience in this area that I don't know exactly how helpful I can be."

"Oh nonsense, my dear boy," the Sultan replied. "Your assistance was extremely valuable. Because you've lived among the ordinary people of this kingdom all your life, you know their wants and needs better than anyone else. You know what types of goods and services would serve them best. Thanks to your input, we've crafted our trade proposals to make sure that future trade can provide our people with many more needed goods and services at much lower prices."

"Way to go, Al!" Genie cheered. "You'll make a regular Adam Smith!"

"Who's that, Genie?" Aladdin inquired.

"Oh, he's a bigtime economist in the future," Genie chuckled. "Sorry for the anti-chronological references. I do that."

"Now everyone, let's go eat dinner so we can get some sleep," the Sultan said.

Everybody followed the Sultan into the royal dining room, with Jasmine and Aladdin tenderly holding hands as they walked out of the throne room.

* * *

Later that night, everyone had gone to bed and was soon fast asleep. The Sultan was slumbering peacefully in his bedchamber, and little did he know, something was happening right above him. A flash of white light suddenly pierced through the darkness of the bedroom, and a black hole took shape above the Sultan's bed. Out of the dark portal floated an airborne, bowl-sized, dodecahedron-shaped black crystal, which descended from the air slowly and ominously toward the sleeping monarch. Something about the crystal or the portal must have disturbed the Sultan's sleep, for he soon began to stir as the crystal hovered overhead.

The Sultan slowly opened his tired eyes, stroked his white beard, and glanced up at the ceiling. The sight of the hovering airborne crystal descending toward him instantly shocked him out of his groggy state.

"What?!" the Sultan sputtered as he rolled over to the side of his bed away from the crystal. "What is happening here?! Help!"

The airborne object flew after him, and the Sultan leaped out of his bed and ran across the room. Despite his somewhat advanced age, the Sultan was actually quite quick on his feet. Soon, however, the floating crystal cornered him, pinning him to the wall on the other side of the bedroom.

"Stop!" cried the Sultan. "Get away from me!"

No response came from the crystal; it merely hovered over the old man and unleashed a ray of glistening light in his direction. The light engulfed the Sultan and dragged the terrified monarch toward the crystal like some inexorable force of nature. The poor man's struggles were to no avail; the energy beam soon trapped him inside the black crystal and froze him in a state of unconsciousness. With its target now captured, the crystal floated back into the portal, and then both the black hole and the black crystal disappeared. No trace whatsoever of the Sultan of Agrabah remained within the bedchamber.

* * *

Jasmine was sleeping soundly in her bedchamber, and Rajah was curled up beside her bed purring serenely. Out of nowhere, a burst of bright light filled the room, and a low rumble sounded through the air. A black hole appeared abruptly above Jasmine's bed, cutting through the fabric of space and time and leading to what seemed a dark, empty void. A floating black crystalline object flew menacingly out of the hole. Jasmine stirred somewhat in her bed, but did not fully awaken.

Rajah, however, woke up from his sleep and sensed that something was wrong. He looked up and saw the black crystal emerge from the portal. Appalled, the tiger leapt to his feet and approached the object ever so cautiously.

The crystal released a ray of white light which enveloped Jasmine's body as she lay in her bed. When this happened, the princess finally awakened, and she let out a terrified shriek.

"Aaah! Help!" she screamed as she was ensnared by the crystal's energy ray. "What's happening to me?!"

The energy ray levitated Jasmine's helpless body from her bed and into the air. The ray began to pull her toward the crystal, but it did not get far. Rajah had come to his mistress's rescue, grabbing her left pant leg in his mouth and holding down firmly on the fabric with his teeth. The tiger's strong grip prevented the black crystal from sucking Jasmine into its interior, though it continued to try to drag the princess into the air. The result was a fierce tug of war between Rajah and the crystal for Jasmine, with a stalemate resulting as Jasmine hung in mid-air, kept from being sucked into the crystal only by Rajah's determined efforts.

Jasmine took advantage of this delay by screaming ever more loudly for help. She was unable to free herself from the energy beam's grasp, so she knew she needed more help immediately before it was too late.

Down the palace hallways, Jasmine's screams reached the ears of her friends. Aladdin, Genie, Abu, Iago and Carpet came racing out of their rooms and made straight for the princess's chamber. Aladdin's mind was racing as he ran, worried sick about what might be happening to Jasmine and fearing the worst as he bounded down the hall and toward the doors to Jasmine's room. Aladdin got to the room before the others because his room was closest to Jasmine's.

Aladdin threw the doors open and gasped in horror when saw Jasmine suspended in mid-air and clinging desperately to Rajah, who was still trying to pull his mistress back down with his teeth. Looking up, Aladdin saw the airborne crystal which was responsible for this attack on his fiancée.

"Jasmine! Hang on!" he shouted.

"Aladdin, please hurry!" Jasmine cried out. "I can't hold much longer!" She could feel the crystal's pull growing stronger, and she knew that neither she nor Rajah could keep this up forever.

Aladdin ran over and grabbed Jasmine's arm, and he pulled with all his might to bring Jasmine away from the enchanted crystal above them. Genie, Abu, Iago and Carpet now arrived as well, and they all looked horrified by the sight that greeted them.

"Guys! Give me a hand!" Aladdin yelled. "Something's trying to grab Jasmine!"

Genie and Carpet each seized one of Jasmine's legs, and Abu and Iago grabbed her other arm. Along with Rajah, everyone was now struggling to pull the princess away from the menacing crystal. But the crystal's relentless pulling force would not abate, and Aladdin knew that it had to be stopped immediately.

"Genie! Do something to stop that crystal!" he shouted as he worked with all his might to keep Jasmine from rising any higher into the air toward the crystal.

"I'm on it, my man!" Genie shouted back. Genie let go of Jasmine's leg and darted over to where the black crystal was hovering. With both hands, Genie unleashed two magic bolts of energy at the crystal, but the bolts only bounced off the dark object.

"Uh oh! That one wasn't good enough!" Genie said. "Time to bring out the big guns!"

Genie conjured up a golf club in his hand, and the golf club surged with his magical energy. Then Genie magically took on the clothing of a golfer and flew up into the air next to the black crystal. Settling firmly into a golfing position and ready to tee off, he aimed his golf club at the crystal.

"Fore!" he yelled as he swung with all his might. The golf club struck the black crystal and sent it hurtling across the room, and the white energy ray it had projected to ensnare Jasmine disappeared. The crystal flew through the air, hit the wall on the other side of the bedroom, and shattered into a hundred pieces. The shards of the crystal clattered to the floor and did not move. The magic object had finally been stopped.

"Oh yeah! Score!" Genie cheered as he waved the golf club over his head.

Jasmine was free now, and was sprawled out on her bed as she took several deep breaths to regain her calm. Then she instantly hugged Aladdin, Rajah and all her other friends before finishing up with an extra-large embrace for Genie, who had permanently destroyed that terrifying magical artifact.

"You guys, you're the best!" she beamed as she wrapped her arms around Genie. "I was scared out of my wits! Oh, if you hadn't been here, I would have been done for!"

"Don't mention it, Jas," Genie said gently. "That's why you've got friends."

"Wait a minute!" Aladdin suddenly called out. "We're not out of the woods yet! Look!"

The gang looked up and saw the strange dark portal floating in space. They hadn't even noticed it earlier because their attention had been focused on the black crystal. Now the black hole was crackling with dazzling white sparks.

"Oh great, like we didn't have enough nightmare fuel already," Iago growled as he winced and rolled his eyes. "First some flying chunk of charcoal tries to snag Jas, and now we've got a hole in our house that just screams 'evil magic doorway'!"

"That black crystal must have come from this portal!" Aladdin said. "We have to close it! If we don't, there might be more of those things coming through it!"

Iago shuddered. "That's the last thing we need!"

"Genie," Jasmine said quickly, "do you think you can shut that portal and keep out any more of those crystals?"

"I think so," Genie replied. "But it might only be temporary. I'm still not fully sure what kind of magic it is we're dealing with here."

"That's better than nothing," Aladdin said. "It'll buy us some time to figure out what to do next. Go for it, Genie."

Genie flew into the air and made a monkey wrench materialize in his hand. He hurled the wrench the portal, and the sound of a crash was heard emanating from somewhere within the hole. Then Genie waved his arms and conjured up an aura of magical energy which engulfed the portal and forced it to close. Soon there was nothing left of the black hole, with no sign of its previous existence anywhere.

"All done, Al," Genie reported. "The portal is closed. You were right—there _was_ something on the other side of that portal that was transporting black crystals like the one that attacked Jasmine. I could sense it. So I literally threw a monkey wrench into the plans of whoever was sending out those crystals." Genie grinned mischievously.

"Great job, Genie," Aladdin said. "But are we safe yet?"

Genie sighed. "We're safe—for now. I wish I could say we're protected for good from those things, but it just ain't so. I disabled whatever was sending those crystals from the other side of the black hole, and I closed the hole and set up a protection spell around the palace to keep the crystals away. But it won't last forever. This is very strange magic we're dealing with, and my powers can only hold it off for a while. We're gonna have to find a way to permanently stop this magic before it attacks us again."

"Right, Genie," Aladdin said. "And that means we have to find out what kind of magic it is and who's responsible for it."

For Aladdin, this kind of thing was all too common. Agrabah had been attacked by numerous magical threats at various times. Ever since Aladdin had first met Jasmine and saved the kingdom from the evil Jafar, he had encountered countless magical dangers in his new role as a hero. These mystical threats could take many forms and could come from innumerable sources. It was only through Aladdin's efforts and his friends' efforts that Agrabah remained safe.

Jasmine folded her arms. "Whatever this magic is, one thing's for certain: It's a serious threat to all of Agrabah. We have to stop it now. Just imagine, these crystals could appear anywhere in the city when you least expect them to appear and trap anyone in—"

Suddenly Jasmine stopped talking. She froze. Her eyes grew to the size of baseballs, and a look of absolute horror crossed over her face.

"_FATHER!"_ she shrieked. She bolted out of the room, running as fast as her legs could carry her down the hallway and toward the Sultan's bedchamber. The others followed close behind. In seconds, Jasmine reached her father's bedroom and threw the doors open.

"Father! Father!" she cried out as she raced into the room. To her dismay, Jasmine found the Sultan's bed empty! She desperately glanced everywhere in the room, but she saw no sign of her father anyplace.

"He's—he's—GONE!" screamed Jasmine. "NO!"

Aladdin, Genie, Rajah, Carpet, Abu and Iago ran into the room as well, and they all exchanged horrified looks when they saw that the Sultan was missing. Everyone knew exactly what had happened.

Jasmine was absolutely beside herself, exhibiting an intensely distraught expression which was a mixture of fury and sorrow. In her moment of hyper-distress, she fiercely kicked a nearby footstool, bringing her foot down on the stool with a frightening ardor. The stool rolled to one side after Jasmine kicked it. Aladdin ran over to console her, while Rajah, who at first had growled angrily about the situation, sauntered over to Jasmine and nuzzled her soothingly.

Genie looked around the room and groaned. "No doubt about it," he said. "One of those crystal thingies must have floated in while we were still asleep. Those things are fast."

Iago looked ill. "The Sultan's gone," he breathed with disbelief. "And if those airborne rocks manage to come back, any one of us could be next!"

"You got that right, bird man," Genie agreed. "It grabbed the Sultan in his own room, and it did it so fast that the palace guards weren't even aware of anything."

Abu and Carpet both twitched anxiously.

As Aladdin gently held Jasmine in his arms, Jasmine breathed deeply in order to pull herself together. After inhaling and exhaling a few times, she regained control of herself and managed to focus.

"Let's get to work," she said to Aladdin as she touched his shoulders. "We have to find Father, and we have to protect the city from any more of these attacks. Our people are at risk."

"You're right," Aladdin agreed as he stroked Jasmine's cheek. "It's bad enough that those magic crystals are out there, but with the Sultan gone, Agrabah is even more vulnerable."

"I wish I had been there to save him," Jasmine said sadly. "I wish I could have woken up long enough to hear him cry for help. Maybe I could have prevented this and…"

"Don't talk like that," Aladdin interjected. "You did nothing wrong, Jasmine. None of us could have known this would happen. Let's just focus on rescuing him."

Jasmine nodded, and then she and Aladdin gathered their friends so that they could start planning their next move.

"The first thing we have to do is learn what kind of magic we're up against," said Aladdin. "When Genie smashed the crystal, he smashed it into little pieces. If we go back and analyze those pieces of the crystal, we can learn more about the crystal's magic. Then we'll probably be able to figure out where the crystal came from and where the Sultan may have been taken."

"Good thinking, Al!" Genie said. "I'll scoop up a few of those crystal shards and start studying them. With all my magical experience, I'll find out what we're dealing with."

Genie transformed himself into a laboratory scientist in a white lab coat and holding a microscope in one hand. "Let us conduct a thorough examination of this strange, dangerous and ugly specimen," he said with a German accent and a wide grin.

As the gang followed Genie out of the room to retrieve the crystal shards, Aladdin fretted internally over how to save the Sultan and protect the people of the city. He thought about how he was going to have to get used to acting both as a hero _and_ a leader, especially with the Sultan missing. Jasmine walked beside him, and though she was not speaking at the moment, Aladdin could read her face easily. She was worried sick, but also determined.

_If Jasmine can handle the anxiety of this whole miserable situation, then I can_, Aladdin thought. _I have to. There's no choice._

While they marched down the hall, Jasmine reached over and patted Aladdin's arm gently with her pretty hand. It made Aladdin feel good, lifting his morale and making him more determined than ever to do what he needed to do.


	3. Chapter 3

A short time later, the whole gang was gathered in one of the palace's meeting rooms. Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Abu and Carpet were all seated around a round table while Genie was examining the enchanted black crystal fragments under his microscope. Rajah was curled up in a corner, looking on curiously at the goings-on in the room while eating some steak Jasmine had given him.

Genie continued to study the shards of the destroyed crystal, carefully eyeing them through the lenses of the microscope. He bobbed his head from side to side to see the shards at all different angles. His friends waited anxiously around the table for a report on what he had discovered.

At last, Genie looked up from his microscope and addressed the rest of the gang. "Well, I've got some important information already," he said. "This crystal was enchanted with magic power derived from a very distant world, far beyond the boundaries of our own world. It was given the ability to float in the air, to travel through time and space, and to trap victims by being endowed with some really powerful magic—more potent than you normally find in this dimension."

"That explains how it became so powerful!" Jasmine exclaimed. "A magic crystal normally couldn't do any of those things, or at least not all at the same time. It must have needed a huge amount of power to do the things it did."

"You're right, Jas," Genie nodded. "And that power came from a mystical, extra-dimensional world where there was enough energy to make those things happen."

"If that's true, we'll need to work extra hard to fight these things," Aladdin noted.

"There's more," Genie continued. "And this is _really_ important. I closely examined the molecular structure of the crystal fragments, and I discovered that the crystal was made from mineral materials found only in the Land of the Black Sand."

Everyone at the table gasped. An eerie hush fell over the gang as they took in the news that this new magical weapon had originated from that particular realm. Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Abu and Carpet all froze. Finally, after a few seconds, the six companions broke the silence by speaking out loud what each of them was thinking.

"Mozenrath," they all said simultaneously.

Aladdin clenched his teeth. It all made sense, he thought. Mozenrath, the evil sorcerer who controlled the dark, mysterious kingdom known as the Land of the Black Sand, had been a constant threat for a long time. He was young wizard, around Aladdin's age, and he was obsessed with acquiring enough magic power to enable him to conquer all of the kingdoms of the Seven Deserts. He was a persistent collector of various magical spells, artifacts and power sources. And he was, without question, one of Aladdin's most vicious and spiteful enemies.

Yes, Aladdin thought to himself, this was just like one of Mozenrath's more insidious schemes. His treacherous nature had manifested itself from the beginning of his career as a wizard. Years ago, Mozenrath had been an apprentice to another evil sorcerer named Destane, the former ruler of the Land of the Black Sand. Then Mozenrath had betrayed Destane, stolen his powers, and turned Destane into just another one of his many mindless undead zombie slaves.

Mozenrath now wanted to rule every other kingdom as well, and he might have succeeded had he not consistently suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of Aladdin and his friends. These defeats fueled Mozenrath's ever-growing hatred for Aladdin, which only made Aladdin ever more determined to defend Agrabah and the other cities from the sorcerer's machinations. Aladdin despised Mozenrath for constantly endangering his close friends and for his blatant disregard for the well-being of innocent bystanders.

_That low-life jackal!_ he thought. _Why can't he just leave us alone?!_

Around the table, all of Aladdin's friends were equally appalled to find themselves facing another one of the young wizard's plots.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!" Iago snarled. "Now we've got Mozenrath gunning for us again! I _can't stand_ that twisted wizard kid!"

"You speak for all of us, Iago," Jasmine said as a grimace crossed her face. "But it makes sense. Mozenrath must have planned to remove Agrabah's royal family in one fell swoop. He took Father, and he tried to kidnap me, too."

"Yeah," said Aladdin, "and that would have made Agrabah completely leaderless, so Mozenrath could have easily stepped into the power vacuum and taken over!"

Genie spoke up again. "Well, the good thing is that ol' Mozey won't be able to attack us with those crystals again for a little while. I damaged whatever he was using to transport them. Unfortunately, I'm estimating that we may only have about twenty-four hours to do something before he's got his crystals up and running again."

"Then we have to take action now," Aladdin said. "We might not get another chance. At least now we know exactly who's responsible for these attacks, and where the Sultan is."

"Oooh!" Jasmine pounded the table with both her fists. "I can't believe we have to deal with that insufferable little world-conqueror wannabe!"

"I know how you feel, Jasmine," Aladdin sighed. "But we'll save your father. I promise."

"I've got more info on the crystals," Genie continued. "Each crystal is only powerful enough to hold one prisoner at a time. Also, these crystals aren't powerful enough to hold supernatural beings like me. They can only hold normal humans and animals. No genies. So thankfully, I'm in the clear on this one."

"Oh, lucky you!" Iago snorted. "Now you can just kick back on your sofa with a glass of lemonade while the rest of us rot inside Mozenrath's big ugly black pebbles!"

"No, wait! This is good!" Aladdin pointed out. "If Genie can't be trapped in these magic crystals, we might be able to use that to our advantage."

"I sure hope so, Al," said Genie. "I want to help in every possible way. But we can't get cocky. Even if Mozenrath can't trap me with these black crystals, he's bound to find some other way to do it. He's done it before, as we all know."

Genie groaned to himself. Mozenrath had always had a particular obsession with him, always seeking ways to trap Genie and to use his powers for his own malicious purposes. There was no telling what dirty tricks the sorcerer had up his sleeve at any given time.

"We'll keep that in mind, Genie," Aladdin said. "Right now, we need a way to shut down this new magic that Mozenrath's using."

"Hmmm," Genie said thoughtfully. "Maybe we can find an answer in Jafar's old lab."

Everyone fell silent for a moment at the mention of that name. Jafar, the diabolical vizier-turned-sorcerer, had been their deadliest foe when he was alive. A man whose hunger for limitless power knew no bounds, Jafar had amassed a vast trove of magic secrets in his quest to subjugate Agrabah and everything else within his reach. Although Jafar had been an implacable enemy, he had also left behind a collection of valuable research on mystical lore which had helped Aladdin and his friends on more than one occasion.

"That's a good idea, Genie," Aladdin finally said. "Let's go to the lab and look for anything we can use. We're short on time, and every minute counts."

The six companions got up from the table and hurried out of the room. On the way out, Rajah looked forlornly at Jasmine. She paused and petted the tiger's soft, thick fur.

"I know you're worried about me, Rajah," Jasmine said. "But Agrabah is in danger, and Father needs me. I can't just sit here and wait for another attack. I'm going with Aladdin."

She hugged Rajah once more and then followed her friends out of the room.

* * *

Soon the gang was walking up the spiral staircase of a dark corridor toward the door leading into Jafar's old laboratory. Aladdin opened the door and led his friends into the murky lab, which was crowded with an assortment of books, scrolls, maps, globes, bottles and other miscellaneous objects. As the six companions wandered into the lab, they could almost feel the sinister aura of the regally malevolent vizier hanging in the air throughout the room.

"Boy, this place gives me the creeps," muttered Iago. "Brings back too many memories of having that psycho Jafar as my boss!" For many years in the past, Iago had been Jafar's pet parrot before he had finally severed ties with his master and joined up with the good guys.

"I can imagine," Aladdin nodded. "But we can really use your help, Iago. You spent so much time with Jafar that you can probably find his magic studies a lot faster than the rest of us."

"Yeah, I can do that," Iago agreed. "I may have to trudge through a lot of this clutter Jafar left behind, but I'll find what we need. There's gotta be something in here that can show us how to put the kibosh on a bunch of crystals with a bad attitude."

Iago flew over to the bookcase and began rummaging through an agglomeration of books and papers. As he searched through the research collection, Abu came over and started helping Iago to dig through the ledger.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and Jasmine were looking over some of the other sorcery apparatus scattered throughout the lab.

"If we can find the means of vanquishing these crystals, some of this magical and alchemical equipment could come in handy," Jasmine observed.

"Definitely," Aladdin agreed. "Genie, maybe you can use this equipment to create some magic weapon for defeating the black crystals. You have the most expertise in this area."

"Will do, Al," Genie assured. "As soon as we find the right magic spell, I'll be ready to cook up something we can use."

Genie went to the laboratory table and began gathering various pieces of alchemy apparatus, and Carpet flew over to help him with the task. Aladdin and Jasmine started looking over some alchemical charts on the table while Iago and Abu continued poring over the contents of the bookcase.

"Hey!" Iago suddenly called out. "I think I've found something we can use! It's right here in this book I found on minerals and magical realms."

The rest of the gang gathered around Iago as the parrot pointed to the open pages of a large book he had taken from the bookshelf. The pages displayed several illustrations of rocks, minerals and space-time portals in addition to the text.

"I knew Jafar had some info on this stuff!" Iago said. "It says here that many interdimensional mystical worlds contain different forms of magical energy which can be used to increase the power of magic minerals. The book also says that the best way to fight a magic crystalline mineral charged with interdimensional energy is to create a weapon made from the same material as the crystal, and then to charge it up with the same magical energy used by the crystal."

"But how can we do that?" Jasmine asked. "We don't know anything about the kind of magical energy the black crystal was endowed with."

"No sweat," Iago said. "Look, the book provides a magic formula for analyzing interdimensional magical power stored inside a crystal. And it shows how to replicate that energy in another object."

"That's perfect!" Aladdin said. "We still have the fragments of the black crystal, so we can use them to reproduce the crystal's magical power by using this formula! Genie, do you think you can use this formula to create a weapon that can stop Mozenrath's crystals?"

"You got it, buddy," Genie nodded. "All I need are those fragments of the crystal, this book, a bunch of these laboratory gadgets, and I am ready to start cookin'!"

Genie gathered up all the necessary items and spread them across the laboratory table. Then he transformed himself into a chef with a white hat and apron, and went about the process like a culinary expert demonstrating a new recipe.

"To prepare a delicious new weapon to keep you healthy and disinfect you of all harmful black crystals, you need just the right ingredients," he intoned. "Watch as the master artist of culinary concoctions devises a recipe to suit your taste buds for any perilous magic adventure!"

As his friends looked on, Genie went to work at lightning speed, operating various gadgets and mixing arcane ingredients in accordance with the book's instructions. When this was done, Genie poured his strange liquid mixture into a mold shaped like a scimitar sword, so that this particular version of alchemical formula would yield a sword as its final product. After a few finishing touches, Genie placed the mold in the laboratory oven for heat treatment. Aladdin and Jasmine threw wood into the oven and used a tinderbox to start a fire, and then the two of them seized a bellows and started pumping it near the stove to keep the fire going. Soon the flames were bathing the clay mold in a torrent of heat sufficient for a forge.

Moments later, Genie opened the oven and retrieved the mold. Now, sitting and steaming within the square clay base, was a golden scimitar with an elegantly curved gold blade which gleamed brightly in the shadows of the room. The handle of the sword was forged to delicately balance the blade and grant the wielder maximum dexterity.

"Ta-da!" Genie exalted as he presented his creation to the gang. "One anti-crystal scimitar sword ready for deployment in the field!"

"Perfect, Genie!" Aladdin exclaimed. "Now we at least have something to fight back with. Let's go after Mozenrath now!"

"Better let the sword cool for a few minutes, Al," Genie advised. "You won't be any good to the city with singed hands."

Aladdin nodded and turned to Jasmine. "Jasmine, I know you want to come with us, but maybe you shouldn't go. If Mozenrath is targeting the royal family, then he'll try to take you again so that he can make the city helpless."

Jasmine shook her head. "No, Aladdin. I have to go with you, no matter what the risk. It's not just that Father is in danger; it's that all of our people are threatened. With Father gone, I'm the only ruler left, and I have to get involved directly in protecting my people. It's the responsibility of any good ruler. I'm going with you no matter what."

Aladdin knew that Jasmine would not be dissuaded, so he assented and said, "Well, then I guess we're all in it together." Privately, he noted that he should probably adopt that same attitude. After all, he would be a ruler one day, and protecting the people would be his duty.

Aladdin next turned to Carpet, Abu and Iago. "Alright, you guys, you know what we have to do. We have to go to the Land of the Black Sand and destroy Mozenrath's new magical creations for good."

Carpet stood at attention, ready to go at any time. Abu hesitated for a moment, looking nervous, but he finally followed Carpet and indicated that he was prepared to leave.

Iago stood still, looking shaky and uncomfortable. "Uh….I'm….not sure I should be going to the Land of the Black Sand," he said nervously. "Maybe I oughta stand guard here at the palace while the rest of you guys are gone."

"Okay, Iago, if that's what you want," Aladdin said with a sly smile. "But remember, if those floating black crystals manage to come back, you'll have to face them all alone."

Iago's head feathers stood on end, and his mouth curled into a fearful, sickened grimace. "Okay! Okay! Forget what I just said! I'm going!" He stepped forward with Abu and Carpet.

"That's the spirit, fellas!" Genie crowed. "We're going into this mission full throttle!"

With a wave of his hand, Genie suddenly used his magic to transform Aladdin and Jasmine's clothes into commando military uniforms with camouflage colors, combat boots, and army helmets. Aladdin and Jasmine stared confusedly at their military attire as Genie conjured up army helmets on Iago, Abu and Carpet.

"We are gonna knock 'em dead!" Genie enthused as he magically gave himself camouflage combat attire, complete with machine gun, to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Bad" from his stereo. "These bad boys don't stop for nothin'!"

"Uh, Genie," said Aladdin, "I don't think all this is necessary. It'll probably be more of a distraction than anything else."

Genie paused from swaying to his stereo music and looked sheepish. "Yeah, you're right," he grinned as he magically changed everything back to normal again. "Sorry! I just got carried away again!"

"No worries," Aladdin said. "Let's just get that magic sword ready so we can start moving."

As soon as the golden sword had cooled and had been fully hammered into perfect shape, Genie gave it to Aladdin, who tucked it into his belt. Then he gave a whistle to Carpet, who flew over and allowed everyone to climb onto his back.

"Alright, Carpet, let's hurry!" Aladdin urged. Carpet took off into the air and out of the palace, flying into the sky and leaving the city limits. As they left Agrabah behind, the six companions girded themselves for their mission, looking out into the distance where the dark, starry sky lay before them.

* * *

After the six companions had been flying across the desert for some time, they finally arrived at the borders of the Land of the Black Sand. True to the realm's name, there were miles and miles of black sand spread over hills and dunes, stretching into the farthest reaches of the land ahead where a white mist hung in the air. In the distance, there were signs of worn-down old buildings used by Mozenrath as storage facilities or as living quarters for his undead minions. The darkness of the night grew even more pronounced in this eerie, foreboding place.

Carpet hovered in the air as his friends looked out at the ebony land beyond. Now that they were here, the real challenge was about to begin.

"I hate the Land of the Black Sand," Iago muttered as he fidgeted timorously. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"

"I hear ya, bird man," Genie sighed. "You and me both. Mozenrath is always trying to bring me here so he can take away my powers."

"Aladdin," Jasmine said. "What if Mozenrath detects Genie and Carpet? He knows how to detect the presence of uninvited magic within his kingdom."

"That's not our biggest concern right now," Aladdin said. "Mozenrath must already know we're coming. Remember, Genie damaged that thing he was using to send those crystals through the portals. He'll be expecting an attack no matter what, so we can't worry about secrecy. We all have to stick together and work as a team, or else we don't stand a chance."

The heroes sailed through the air atop the carpet over the rolling black dunes of the enchanted land. As they passed over the hills of ebony sand, they flew on toward the silent, lifeless neighborhoods of dull, haggard buildings dotting the center of the kingdom. There was no sign of life or activity, for Mozenrath's realm contained no citizens other than the mindless undead beings he used as his obedient servants. Farther out in the distance, the six comrades could see their ultimate destination: the grand, stately citadel of Mozenrath, standing imperiously at the top of a gray, rocky cliff.

"We have to get into the citadel," Aladdin said. "That's where Mozenrath will have his magic crystals." Aladdin clutched the hilt of the magic sword in his belt.

"We'd better look for a safe way inside," Jasmine said. "We don't know what kind of surprises might be waiting for us behind the citadel's walls."

Iago winced. "The one thing we _do_ know is that whatever's in there can only be _life-threatening_," he said. "The last thing we need is a lethal welcome wagon from Mozen-brat."

Abu chattered in agreement as he gazed nervously at the imposing castle positioned against the dark sky.

Atop Carpet, the gang hovered around the towers of the citadel, glancing toward one window after another. The fortress was perfectly quiet and still, with no sign of movement or sound evident anywhere from the outside. But the six friends knew that even though there was nothing visibly threatening at the moment, something dangerous could still be lurking unseen.

"Mozenrath may expect an attack through one of the windows," Aladdin observed. "We'd better look for possible ways inside from the ground."

Carpet responded by descending from the air toward the ground near the citadel's main gate. He carried his comrades to the sand-covered foothills leading to the fortress. The other five adventurers disembarked from Carpet's back.

Abu climbed up on Aladdin's shoulders as Aladdin surveyed the towering gateway. He rapidly chattered something to Aladdin as he held tightly onto Aladdin's neck.

"I know, Abu. This is risky," Aladdin acknowledged. "But we don't have many options. Our best bet is to hit Mozenrath with everything we've got, all together, and keep him busy long enough to destroy his new weapon. First, we need the safest possible way in."

"And I just want to rescue Father as quickly as I can," Jasmine added with a hint of anxiety. "I can't imagine what he must be going through right now."

"We'll save him!" declared Genie as he took on the form of a superhero with a flowing red cape. "Justice shall triumph over all adversity!"

"If you don't keep quiet, we'll all be up to our ears in adversity!" Iago hissed to Genie. "And it will _kill us_!"

"Come on, guys, don't waste time," Aladdin urged. "Let's find an entrance we can use."

The gang crept along the black foothills several yards away from the outer walls of the citadel, inspecting the walls for any signs of possible entrances other than the main gateway. All of a sudden, the ground beneath them began to shake violently.

"Look out!" yelled Aladdin as he and his friends leaped away from the tremors emanating from under the ground. The gang ran to one side and spun around just in time to see the ground where they had been standing burst open. Then several shabby, etiolated figures carrying scimitar swords emerged from the hole in the ground and hobbled into view.

"The undead mamluks!" Genie shouted. "It's zombie city here, people!"

The gang went into a defensive crouch as the undead mamluks advanced toward them in a faltering, shambling manner. The mamluks were mindless, hostile creatures who served as the verminous infantrymen of Mozenrath's land. These undead ghouls had green, grim faces with yellow eyes, and they wore large brown turbans along with disheveled brown infantry garb. Several dozen mamluks were now facing the heroes, and all had their swords drawn.

"Let's get them!" Jasmine urged. She had come too far to rescue her father to stop now, and she certainly was not going to be deterred by a few stumbling zombie ghouls.

"Right behind ya, princess woman!" Genie called out as he transformed himself into a boxer, doing several practice punches in the air with his pair of boxing gloves.

Jasmine charged one of the mamluks, her eyes blazing with purpose. The mamluk took a swing at her with its curved sword, but Jasmine ducked the blade and leaned her body back to raise a leg and deliver a good solid side kick to the mamluk's ribs. The mamluk recoiled from the force of Jasmine's kick, toppled over, and shattered into pieces on the ground.

Aladdin gave a small smile. The mamluks were rather aggressive, but their biggest weakness was the notable vulnerability of their undead bodies. They were prone to falling apart into pieces easily when they were met with sufficient resistance.

"Careful, guys!" he called out. "Hit them hard, but watch out for their swords!"

"I'm just getting started, Al!" Genie proclaimed. With a few powerful punches reinforced by his boxing gloves, Genie bashed two charging mamluks, fragmenting them into piles of stray body parts.

Jasmine seized the sword from the remains of the mamluk she had just defeated and used it herself. As two more of the undead creatures moved toward her, Jasmine lashed out with the curved blade and ran it through the torsos of both mamluks with expert speed and balance. The two ghouls fell to pieces onto the black sand of the foothills.

"Nice moves, princess woman!" Genie yelled out as he easily knocked aside several mamluks in one blow. "But watch your back!"

"Don't worry about me," Jasmine said as she breathed deeply through gritted teeth. "If I have to cut through every mamluk in this godforsaken land to get my father back, I'll do it."

Aladdin was facing off against two other mamluks at the moment, dodging their sword swipes and countering with the golden sword Genie had forged. As he fenced with one of the mamluks, Aladdin soon saw firsthand the power of the sword. When he clashed the blade hard enough, it split apart the mamluk's solid steel blade! Then Aladdin sliced the mamluk to pieces and proceeded to do the same to the other one.

"Aaah!" Iago shrieked as he and Abu scrambled out of the way of an attacking mamluk. The mamluk tried to bring its sword down on the two small animals, but Abu and Iago dodged it. Then Carpet came to the rescue, rolling himself up like a newspaper in midair and hurling himself down on the mamluk to smack the creature like an insect being swatted. Carpet flattened the mamluk into the ground and it did not move.

"Whew! Thanks a million, rug boy," Iago said, breathing heavily with relief while Abu tittered in agreement.

Aladdin and Jasmine were both using their swords to fend off the mamluks, and they were both causing more of the undead infantrymen to shatter into fragments on the ground. Suddenly, a few of the shattered body parts from a few of the defeated mamluks began to come to life again. Several severed hands and arms started to crawl along the ground of their own accord, moving toward Aladdin and Jasmine in an attempt to grab their ankles! Jasmine and Aladdin gasped when they saw the arms and hands crawling toward them, but at that moment, Abu and Iago leaped into action and tackled the moving body parts. The monkey and the parrot wrestled the undead arms and hands until they stopped fighting. Then Abu and Iago hurled the body parts across the ground where they landed harmlessly.

"Yuck!" Iago growled when he and Abu had thrown down all the mamluk parts. "I can't stand grabby undead things!"

"Thanks for the help, you guys," Jasmine said sweetly as she patted Abu and Iago.

Iago grinned. "Hey, somebody had to clear out all that scuzzy trash!"

Meanwhile, Genie and Carpet were vanquishing the last of the attacking mamluks. With an assist from Carpet, Genie was punching the creatures hard with his boxing techniques. Soon the ground was strewn with mamluk remains, and everything became quiet again.

"Yes! We are the champs, my friends!" Genie celebrated as he high-fived Carpet.

"Nice work, guys," Aladdin said. "But we're just getting started. We have to get our hands on Mozenrath's weapon."

"Right! Let's get a move on!" said Genie as he dashed off around the corner of the citadel wall. The rest of the gang followed.

* * *

A few moments later, Aladdin and the gang made it around the corner of the citadel. They surveyed the walls and towers standing above them as a white mist in the air drifted on past the fortress.

"We may have a better chance of taking Mozenrath off guard if we go in from the side of this building," Aladdin said. "There's got to be a pipe somewhere that leads to the citadel's plumbing system. Maybe that can serve as our entrance."

"Great idea, Al!" Genie said. "And if the pipe's too small, I'll just make with the semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powers and make us all tiny enough to fit inside!"

"Just make sure I don't end up as a squished cockroach," Iago grumbled.

The six friends were searching over the wall when a flash of blue light suddenly enveloped the area. Alarmed, the six companions spun around to see a large ball of blue light taking shape. Out of the field of blue luminosity stepped two scowling mamluks, both of them glowing with the same blue radiance as the ball of light.

"Oh no, you don't!" Jasmine shouted at the mamluks. "You're not going to interfere with us again!" She charged at the two undead foot soldiers with her sword drawn.

"Jasmine, stop!" Aladdin yelled. Something didn't seem right to him, and he didn't want Jasmine to rush headlong into potential trouble. But he was too late.

When Jasmine charged the mamluks, the blue energy emanating from them suddenly engulfed her and held her fast. No matter how she struggled, Jasmine could not break free!

"What's…happening?!" she cried as the energy field trapped her and tore the sword from her hand. The two mamluks seized both her arms, and then, in yet another blue flash, Jasmine and the mamluks vanished into thin air!

Aladdin, Genie, Abu, Iago and Carpet all gasped in horror. In just a few seconds, Jasmine had completely disappeared without leaving a solitary trace behind. Her comrades could scarcely believe that she had been taken right under their noses.

"No!" Aladdin shouted. "Oh, no! NO! Jasmine! Where did she go?!"

"I think we can take an educated guess," Genie frowned. "The blue light coming from those mamluks looked a lot like what happens when ol' Mozey does his little vanishing act."

"Oh, no!" Aladdin said in sickened realization as he slapped his forehead. "Mozenrath must have transferred his teleportation power to those two mamluks so they could teleport Jasmine away from us. Why didn't I see this coming?!"

Aladdin was thoroughly horrified. "How could I have let this happen to her? I knew Mozenrath wanted to take both her and the Sultan! I should have protected her more. I should have been ready for this. I…I…" His voice trailed off and he hung his head in shame.

Genie rushed over and patted Aladdin on the shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Al. It was a magical sneak attack. None of us knew it was coming, and it happened way too fast. And Jasmine knew the risks when she came with us. She _wanted_ to help."

Aladdin breathed and pulled himself together. "You're right, Genie. It's just that…I'm supposed to protect the people close to me, and if anything happens to Jasmine…I…I don't know what I'll do."

"Relax, Al," Genie encouraged. "We're not through yet. We'll save her. Remember, Mozenrath won't kill her now. She's too valuable as a hostage. That gives us a chance to follow through on our plan to invade the citadel so we can save her _and_ the Sultan."

Abu leaped onto Aladdin's shoulder and tittered encouragingly, and Carpet seemed to agree as well.

Iago flew over and spoke up. "Look, Al, I'm not exactly Mr. Bravery, but I completely understand what's with you. I'll admit it up front—I'm still _petrified_ being in this stupid, scary graveyard that Mozenrath calls a 'kingdom.' And I'm still sick to my stomach. But now I'm _mad_, too. I _hate_ that someone nabbed Jas like that! And even though I hate the thought of going into this haunted-house thingy, I also am now _really_ in the mood to kick that jerk sorcerer's butt!"

Knowing that all his friends were still with him all the way gave Aladdin new comfort and hope. He was ready to continue.

"Alright, let's go," he said. "We'll go in through one of the drain pipes, and we'll go in tiny-sized if we have to."

"We're in luck, Al!" Genie called out. "I just found a small drain pipe to do the trick! It's the best chance we've got to get the drop on Mr. Moze before he gets wise to us."

"Then let's do it, Genie," Aladdin nodded.

Genie magically shrank himself, Aladdin, Abu, Iago and Carpet to the size of insects, and they all headed into the walls of the fortress through the drain pipe. As they ran through the pipe deeper into the citadel's infrastructure, they all anxiously prayed that they would arrive in time to save Jasmine…and get out alive.


	4. Chapter 4

Jasmine slowly began to open her eyes. Her head was throbbing. She could barely recall what had just happened. The last thing she could remember was that she had been struggling with two mamluks and a magical force field. Everything else was a blur.

_I must have passed out_, she thought. _But where am I now?_

Gradually, consciousness began to return to the princess. As her mental faculties slowly recuperated, Jasmine suddenly became cognizant of the fact that her arms were being held up. Her wrists were shackled to a marble wall, strongly bound in the grip of large metal manacles attached to the wall behind her. Jasmine realized that she was sitting on a marble floor which if truth be told wasn't exactly comfortable. The iron grip of the manacles held her in place and prevented her from moving anywhere.

As second after second passed, Jasmine's vision began to clear. At first when she opened her eyes everything looked blurry. But now the blurriness was subsiding, and she gradually was able to accurately perceive the scenery around her. She was in a laboratory of some kind, with numerous tables, books, glass containers and miscellaneous equipment spread out across the stone-walled room. As her vision grew clearer, Jasmine looked hard into the room and saw a caped figure standing near a table littered with glass vials. The figure slowly turned in her direction just as Jasmine fully recovered her vision. It was Mozenrath himself.

Jasmine glared angrily as Mozenrath stepped further into view. He was a tall fellow dressed in aristocratic garments colored blue and black, with a black cape draped over his shoulders and a blue turban sitting upon his head. A few clumps of Mozenrath's black hair could be seen sticking out from under the turban. He had a pale, youthful face that would have appeared handsome if not for the cruel coldness in his eyes. As it was, the young sorcerer projected a disturbingly icy demeanor which was only augmented by the white pallor of his complexion. An air of cold, unyielding heartlessness seemed to hang all about the young man in the same way that the white mist of the Land of the Black Sand hung about the domineering citadel.

On his right hand, the wizard wore a single large, brown leather gauntlet—the key to all of his considerable magical powers. The mystical glove was charged with potent energies and could perform numerous feats. However, Jasmine and her friends knew the price Mozenrath paid for this great power. As they had all learned some time ago, beneath that glove Mozenrath's right arm was now nothing but skeletal bone. The power of the gauntlet had eaten away all of the skin and flesh of his right arm over time, leaving only the bone behind.

Mozenrath approached the captive princess, his eyes continuing to emanate that same sickening malice and spite. Jasmine did her best to keep herself from becoming sick to her stomach. Being alone in the company of Mozenrath was _not_ appealing.

"Well, well, Your Highness, I see that you've finished your little nap time," the young wizard said in a voice that reeked of slimy, smarmy condescension. "Now I can finally welcome you to my lovely home. And I also must thank you for being so…cooperative in helping me to complete the latest phase of my little operation."

Jasmine ignored the introduction; she had only one thing to say. "Give me back my father," she said intensely.

Mozenrath chuckled. "Now, princess, you shouldn't be so impatient and—" he started to say, but he was cut short by Jasmine. She was in no mood for idle chat.

She repeated, with emphasis: "_Give_. _Me_. _Back_. _My_. _FATHER_."

"Relax, my dear princess," Mozenrath said. "As soon as all of Agrabah is firmly under my control, you and your father, the Sultan, will be allowed to return home—as my new servants."

Mozenrath reached out to gently touch Jasmine's cheek with his left hand, but he quickly pulled his hand back again when Jasmine lashed out with her teeth in an attempt to bite Mozenrath's fingers.

"You're a fool, Mozenrath," Jasmine said, continuing to eye the sorcerer with undisguised contempt. "My father and I will never serve you. No one will."

"But think what an honor it would be to serve the most powerful man in all the Seven Deserts," Mozenrath countered. "You could do far worse than that, I assure you."

"I'd rather kiss a scorpion," Jasmine spat.

Mozenrath scowled. "Perhaps you'll feel differently when you realize how few choices you have left," he said testily. "Thanks to my new plan, everyone will soon be forced to play by my rules."

While Mozenrath was turning around to see to something, Jasmine mentally rebuked herself for her recklessness in letting herself get captured. _How could I have been so careless?_ she thought to herself. _I was so anxious to take on those mamluks that I didn't see what was coming. I can't believe I was so reckless!_

She stopped thinking on this when she saw that Mozenrath was tinkering with a large metallic device seemingly designed like some sort of furnace. Jasmine now knew that this construct must be the weapon Mozenrath was using to control those magic black crystals. She decided to learn more.

"I take it that's the weapon that's going to make you king of everything," she said to him.

Mozenrath looked up from his work and grinned. "Exactly," he replied. "This device is my own creation, the perfect tool with which to cripple every kingdom in the Seven Deserts. This is my new alchemy furnace, a mechanized forge designed specifically to produce my newest weapons—the black crystals. Of course, you've already seen one or two of them in action."

"Don't remind me," Jasmine snorted.

"I created the black crystals from substances found here in my kingdom, and I invented this alchemy furnace to mass-produce them at rapid rates," Mozenrath went on. "The crystals are perfect for trapping any unsuspecting victims of my choice. They are strong and powerful, and they can travel through the air just like any flying creature."

"I guess you couldn't find any more Crystals of Ix to use?" Jasmine inquired. In the past, Mozenrath had used large mystical crystals known as Crystals of Ix, which were specifically designed to entrap magical beings such as genies. He had tried a couple of times to ensnare Genie in a Crystal of Ix so that he could siphon off his magic.

Mozenrath nodded in response. "True, I have used those before," he said. "Unfortunately, Crystals of Ix don't grow on trees. It takes so much time and effort to find one powerful enough to serve my purposes. So I decided to try a different tactic—forging a collection of airborne crystals to trap my human targets."

Then Mozenrath suddenly looked angry. "And my black crystals would still be doing my bidding right now if it weren't for your insufferable genie!" he raged. "He threw a wrench through the portal and right into my furnace! Now I have to delay my conquest plans while I fix the machine! You people make everything so _difficult_!"

Jasmine was somewhat amused by the wizard's sudden burst of anger, but she tried not to show it. She simply sat calmly, still chained to the wall, while Mozenrath talked on.

"But this delay won't stop me," he stated. "I'll have the device fixed soon enough. As soon as my machine is ready again, I will send out my black crystals to capture and debilitate Agrabah's army and palace guards, leaving the whole city totally defenseless!"

"What I don't understand is how you managed to create those portals to send the crystals out so quickly," Jasmine said, hoping she could prod the sorcerer to reveal more. She also hoped that she could stall him long enough for Aladdin to arrive.

"I was just getting to that," Mozenrath said. "My alchemy furnace is not really just a furnace. Approximately half of its workings comprise a furnace for making the crystals. The other half of the machine is actually a magical dimensional transporter. I invented the transporter to create magic portals through time and space for the crystals to travel through. With the transporter, I can dispatch my crystals to any geographic location I choose, to target any victim I choose. And I never even have to leave my citadel."

"But alchemists and sorcerers like yourself have always used furnaces," Jasmine pointed out. "No ordinary furnace could perform all the feats you've described all by itself. It must have needed a huge amount of energy from somewhere to do all of these things."

Mozenrath smiled. "Bravo, princess. You make a very good point. I'm glad to see that your pampered royal upbringing hasn't completely dulled your intellect."

Jasmine responded to this remark with a withering glare. She _so_ wanted to tell the sorcerer off, but she resisted the temptation. For now, she wanted to hear the rest of his plan.

"I made a deal with some powerful dark spirits from another magical world," Mozenrath explained. "In exchange for me agreeing to spread their terror in this world, they provide me with all the energy my machine needs to create and transport the black crystals."

Mozenrath pointed to a mirror hanging on the wall across the room. "That mirror is the doorway through which I communicate with the spirits in their world. Their power was exactly what I needed to carry out my master plan."

"Until they get tired of working with you," Jasmine noted.

Mozenrath scoffed. "That means nothing! Once I control all the lands of the Seven Deserts, I won't even need those spirits anymore! I'll rule all by myself, and all the power will be mine alone."

Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "While we're on the subject, Mr. High-and-Mighty Ruler, answer me this right now: _Where's my father?"_

"Ah yes, I nearly forgot," Mozenrath drawled ponderously. "Let me draw your attention to the cabinet facing us." He walked over to a tall wooden cabinet standing against a wall off to the right side of the room and opened it. Inside was a collection of black crystals, and to Jasmine's horror, her father was frozen inside one of them. She wanted to call out to him, but she knew he couldn't hear her. Besides, there was no way she was going to give Mozenrath the satisfaction of seeing her in emotional distress.

"If you hurt my father, Mozenrath, I will make you suffer horribly," Jasmine growled.

"Ha! Big words coming from a shackled prisoner," Mozenrath laughed dismissively.

"I am not joking," Jasmine said, her eyes resembling lethal daggers now. "If you harm him, all the shackles in the world won't protect you."

"Your father's perfectly safe," Mozenrath said in a somewhat bored tone of voice. "I'm keeping him here until Agrabah is mine. And that will be easy now that I have you. With no royal family to govern the people, the city will soon be powerless."

Jasmine eyed the other black crystals in the cabinet. "Apparently, you didn't just come after me and my father. I see that you've got more prisoners."

"Oh, yes," Mozenrath said. "These other crystals were tests—trial runs, if you will. I needed to make sure that my machine was working properly before attempting to attack the palace. So in order to test it, I used the machine to target a few random civilians in Agrabah. A few worthless commoners whom no one would miss."

Jasmine felt sick. She was looking closely at the other prisoners frozen in crystals. These prisoners were some of her own people, and she was horrified to see that two of them were children! A little boy and a little girl. Two young innocents. They had nothing to do with any of this, and yet this _scumbag_ had made them into target practice! The sight of the defenseless young children, frozen into terrified silence, yanked at Jasmine's heartstrings.

But she wouldn't display distress or sorrow in front of this scumwad. Never. Instead, Jasmine internally converted her sorrowful horror into seething fury.

"_Grrrrrrr!"_ she snarled in the wizard's direction. "How _dare_ you? How _dare _you bring innocent people—_innocent children_—into this nightmare you've created?! You are the lowest kind of degenerate, and I swear that you will pay."

"Idle threats don't impress me, princess," Mozenrath said. "I'm holding all the cards. There's nothing anyone can do to stop me."

"Think again, Mozenrath," Jasmine countered. "You forgot about Aladdin."

The mention of that name seemed to send a tremor of fury and illness through Mozenrath's being. Jasmine could tell that she had touched a nerve.

"I haven't forgotten that miserable peasant Aladdin," Mozenrath snapped. "He can't stop me any more than anyone else can. Once and for all, I will finally prove my superiority over that posturing, low-born street rat!"

"Yeah, right." Jasmine rolled her eyes dismissively.

This seemed to infuriate Mozenrath even more. "You think I'm bluffing? You think this is a joke?! Well, you are sorely mistaken, princess. Aladdin may be a dangerous foe, but he _will_ learn to recognize me as his better! I guarantee it."

"You're the one who's mistaken!" Jasmine shot back. "Aladdin is coming, and he _will _defeat you again. He'll win because he has character, and you have none."

Mozenrath snarled. "He has nothing except unbelievably good luck! I'm the one who had to work hard to get to where I am! I'm the one who mastered the dark arts and became ruler of the Land of the Black Sand!"

Jasmine scoffed disdainfully. "All you rule is a worthless wasteland that doesn't even have a real populace! Aladdin rose from poverty to become heir to the throne of Agrabah for a very good reason: his moral character and his compassion. He knows how to care and how to love, and people who know him respect him for it. And that's the kind of respect you'll never have."

Mozenrath seethed and raised his gauntlet. Jasmine winced as the brown glove crackled with blue sparks. A burst of blue energy shot out of the gauntlet and shocked Jasmine's body, causing her to reel and quiver from the pain of the blast. It was only a small shock, however, and Jasmine was able to shake off the pain. Despite the fact that she was a prisoner, Jasmine felt a twinge of confidence in her ability to get through this ordeal until Aladdin and the others arrived.

"I would watch your tongue if I were you, sweetheart," Mozenrath warned as he drew back his magic glove. "Damsels in distress should be more compliant."

Mozenrath turned his back. As soon as he wasn't looking, Jasmine stuck her tongue out at him.

Now Mozenrath generated yet another blue beam of light from his gauntlet. This beam created a viewing portal through which Mozenrath could see events taking place elsewhere. The magic viewing portal now showed the front entry hall of Mozenrath's fortress.

"Why don't we check in on Aladdin and his sidekicks now?" he said aloud over his shoulder to where Jasmine remained shackled. "You'll soon see that there are limits to what your brave hero can do, sweetheart. Then you will learn to cooperate."

_If he calls me "sweetheart" one more time, I am going to strangle him,_ Jasmine thought.

* * *

Deep within the fortress's pipe system, Aladdin and his friends crept through the black, damp passages, all of them shrunk to the size of insects thanks to Genie's magic. Eventually, they reached the end of the murky tunnel and exited the pipe to appear in the front entry hall of the citadel. The hall was lined with blue-and-gold floors and walls, with polished pillars dotting the room.

Genie magically returned everyone to normal size, and Aladdin tiptoed cautiously across the hallway floor. Carpet, Abu and Iago were close behind.

"I sure hope Jasmine is alright," Aladdin breathed. "Time to find Mozenrath's lab."

All of a sudden, the five companions heard a loud clanging, clanking sound. From out of the shadows stepped several dozen walking suits of armor. The armored suits were tall and silver, and they carried swords and hatchets. They moved menacingly toward the intruders. Aladdin knew these ambulatory suits of armor were more of Mozenrath's magical creations, and he knew that their strength was probably magically enhanced as well.

"Watch it, guys!" he yelled. "Don't panic!"

"I knew I should've stayed in bed today!" Iago yelped in fright.

"Genie," said Aladdin, "be on guard. We may need you badly for this."

"Roger, Al!" Genie replied as he changed himself into a lumberjack brandishing a chainsaw. "I'll take care of these tin cans!"

Aladdin placed his hand on the hilt of his golden sword as the armors moved closer.

* * *

Inside the alchemy lab, Mozenrath was watching through his viewing portal, able to see Aladdin and the others preparing to defend themselves from the walking suits of armor. The wizard was accompanied by his personal pet—a slimy, airborne brown eel called Xerxes, who floated and hovered in the air like a dandelion seed riding on the wind. Behind Mozenrath and Xerxes sat Jasmine, still chained to the wall and gazing anxiously into the viewing portal to watch Aladdin and the others face the new peril.

Mozenrath chuckled as he looked on through the portal. "I hope that you're enjoying the show, princess," he said. "You have a front-row seat to watch your hero get cut to shreds!"

"You're pathetic," Jasmine hissed. "Such a little brute. You can't do anything worthwhile, so you have to hurt other people to make yourself feel big. How embarrassing that must be."

Mozenrath spun around in anger and advanced toward Jasmine threateningly. "You'd better shut your arrogant mouth, little princess, or I'll—"

"You'll what?" Jasmine said defiantly. "Hit me? Zap me again? Go ahead, what do I care? It'll only prove that you're still a fool and a coward."

_Whap!_ Mozenrath smacked Jasmine hard across the face with his left hand, causing the princess's head to lurch back and reel from the impact. Jasmine allowed herself to cough and gasp a few times in response to the blow, but that was it. She was determined that she would _not_ cry out in pain in front of Mozenrath if she could help it. After she had managed to shake off the aching and the stinging in her face, Jasmine turned back to the wizard. She spoke not a word, but instead displayed a furious scowl, and held her head up high. She regarded her captor with a look of absolute icy wrath, glaring at him with a pair of daring, unforgiving eyes.

Mozenrath leaned closer. "Do you have any more useless things to say, little princess?" he asked tauntingly.

Jasmine smiled wickedly at her sudden opportunity.

"No, Mosie," she replied in a sarcastically sweet tone of voice. "But my feet would like to say…_'drop dead!'"_

_Crack!_ Jasmine's feet slammed into Mozenrath's stomach at full force. As Mozenrath clutched his stomach in pain and anger, Jasmine smirked with satisfaction. Her arms might have been chained to the wall, but Mosie had apparently forgotten that she could still move her legs quite readily. So she had simply leaned her body back while raising both legs to lash out with both feet and deliver her cracking kick.

"Did my two feet send their message loud and clear, Mosie?" Jasmine asked mockingly.

Still growling with pain, Mozenrath furiously shot out another power burst from his gauntlet and blasted Jasmine against the wall again. Jasmine writhed in anguish from the shock and the impact, but she didn't care. She was glad that she had caused the ill-mannered young wizard some pain. A little momentary anguish was worth it.

"You're lucky that I need you as a hostage, princess," Mozenrath said. "You may not be so lucky later on."

Mozenrath turned around and walked back to the magic viewing portal to observe Aladdin and his friends. As she sat back against the wall, Jasmine knew that she had to have faith that her friends would rescue her. Inwardly, she prayed intensely that her friends would be alright. She wanted to be out of this miserable situation, and to be back in the loving arms of her father and Aladdin. Most of all, Jasmine wanted to free her father from that dreadful crystal prison and bring him home safely. She also wanted to free the other innocents who had been captured. Jasmine privately vowed that she would do anything possible to save them all.

Looking intently into the viewing portal to watch for her friends, Jasmine kept telling herself that Aladdin would persevere and prevail. He would overcome the odds and keep his friends safe, just as she always knew he would.

_Come on, Aladdin. You can do it. I know you can,_ she thought. _I can endure this ordeal. If I had to, I would endure so much more than this for you._

Jasmine wanted to help her friends. The question was how. She couldn't do much while she was chained to the wall…or could she? Jasmine thought for a minute.

Then her eyes lit up and a wicked smile curled over her face as she looked slyly at Mozenrath, who was busy gazing into the viewing portal. In a few moments, Jasmine's thoughts came together like the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.

_I think I have an idea,_ she thought eagerly. _I think I may be able to help my friends at least a little bit…and every little bit helps. Mozenrath probably uses some degree of his magical powers to control and direct the magical defenses of his citadel—like those walking suits of armor. If I can distract him…annoy him…make him lose focus…his magic may become less focused, and Aladdin and the guys may have a slightly easier time taking down those magic armors faster. Only one way to find out!_

Jasmine started whistling a cheery tune to herself. She whistled the harmonious melody with a gradually increasing pitch, making sure that the sound of her voice could be heard echoing across the marble walls of the laboratory. To her delight, she saw Mozenrath turning around.

"Why are you whistling like that?!" he snapped. "Can't you just be quiet like a well-behaved prisoner?!"

"But Mozenrath, whistling is the only way I can feel better," Jasmine said in a fake-sorrowful tone. "You've made me so completely powerless that whistling a little sweet music is the only thing I can do to heal all my broken hopes."

"Well then, just keep it down," Mozenrath said irritably. "I need to focus on Aladdin's little battle in the entry."

Jasmine smirked mischievously and once again stuck out her tongue at him when his back was turned. She then continued to whistle on and off. Mozenrath would periodically glance over his shoulder and glare at her in annoyance, but would turn back to the viewing portal because he couldn't afford to keep his eyes off the image of Aladdin for long.

_Hopefully that will knock him off his game a little,_ Jasmine smiled to herself. She hoped that it might give Aladdin and the others a chance to finish off their battle sooner.

* * *

The magical walking suits of armor slowly closed in upon Aladdin and his friends, brandishing weapons and clanking along the floor as the heroes prepared to defend themselves. Aladdin drew his golden sword from his belt and held it at the ready, while Genie, still dressed as a lumberjack, started to advance toward the armors with his chainsaw buzzing. Carpet, Abu and Iago stuck close together looking highly apprehensive.

"Come on, guys!" Aladdin called out. "We need to get past these things if we're gonna rescue Jasmine!"

"Just stand back and watch me work!" Genie shouted. He charged one of the walking armors with his chainsaw whirring away. With a few quick moves, Genie whirled the chainsaw through the air and hacked apart the attacking suit of armor. The shredded pieces of the armor clattered to the floor with loud metallic clanks.

"Okay, who else wants to become scrap today?" Genie dared as he turned to face more of the magic armors.

Aladdin sank into a defensive crouch, holding his golden scimitar aloft, as a suit of armor came charging. Reacting quickly, he evaded the armor's sword and returned with a swift, slicing thrust of his gold blade. Aladdin and the walking suit clashed their swords together a few times in a dueling form until Aladdin delivered an extra forceful slice to his opponent's sword. The enchanted gold scimitar completely cut through the steel blade of the walking armor's sword and chopped off its upper half. Without hesitating, Aladdin ran his sword into the walking armor's metal chest, and he was amazed that the magic blade cut through the steel armor like a knife through butter. The suit of armor fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

His confidence rising, Aladdin aimed his enchanted sword at two more of the walking armored suits. The sword slice-and-diced the attacking armors, reducing them to shards of metal on the citadel floor. Aladdin joined up with Genie, who was also tearing through several magic armors with his chainsaw, and the two of them took on the walking suits together.

"Carpet, watch out!" Iago suddenly screamed. Five walking suits of armor were lumbering toward Carpet, Iago and Abu, brandishing swords and axes as they came closer. In response, Carpet signaled Abu and Iago to climb onto his back, which they did. As the five armors moved toward them, Carpet took off and flew straight at them, barreling into the armors and causing them to topple over one another like dominoes. The armors all crashed on the ground and fell apart.

Abu chattered excitedly at this, and he then leaped off of Carpet's back and grabbed a sword from one of the fallen suits of armor. When he saw another suit of armor charging at them, the little monkey used the sword to cut off the suit's left leg right out from under it. The suit of armor collapsed and did not move.

"Nice move, monkey boy!" Iago called out. "I _never_ wanna see another walking trash can within ten miles of my tail feathers!"

Aladdin and Genie were using their weapons to finish off the remaining magic suits of armor. Soon they had vanquished all of the attacking armors, leaving the citadel floor strewn with metal fragments.

"Nice going, buddies!" Genie enthused. "We really showed them who's boss!"

"Yeah, good job, guys," Aladdin agreed. "But we're just getting started. We have to get to Mozenrath's lab so we can rescue the Sultan…and Jasmine."

"No sweat, Al!" Genie declared. "I'll handle the wizard boy! Step aside and lemme at 'em!" In a flash, Genie rushed out of the front entry and down one of the citadel's hallways, magically moving at a super speed.

"Genie, stop!" Aladdin called out. "We have to stick together!" But he was too late. Genie had already disappeared down the dark, eerie hall.

"Oh great, blue boy's probably headed straight into trouble," Iago grumbled.

"That's what I'm worried about," Aladdin nodded. "Genie's powerful, but Mozenrath has lots of nasty tricks up his sleeve. We have to catch up with Genie and help him!"

With that, Aladdin, Abu, Iago and Carpet hurried down the corridor where Genie had gone, racing toward Mozenrath's laboratory. Aladdin achingly hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Mozenrath glowered irritably. Watching through his magic viewing portal, he saw that Aladdin and his friends had defeated the magical suits of armor. He had hoped to delay them longer, or even to incapacitate them completely, but once again that accursed Aladdin had proven to be ridiculously lucky. Even worse, that miserable genie was heading straight for the lab!

With a wave of his magic gauntlet, Mozenrath made the viewing portal disappear. He then quickly turned in the direction of the laboratory's door and braced himself for his attacker's arrival. Xerxes floated in the air nearby, twitching nervously from side to side. Jasmine, still chained to the wall at the back of the room, was relieved that Aladdin and the others had survived the latest obstacle.

Seconds later, a magic power blast from outside the lab blew the door off its hinges and sent it crashing to the floor in a cloud of dust. Once the dust had lifted, Genie strode menacingly through the doorway and set his eyes directly on Mozenrath. As Genie advanced into the room, Jasmine looked happy, Mozenrath looked unamused, and Xerxes looked panicky.

"End of the line, Wonder Boy!" Genie boomed. "You're about to be sent up the river without a paddle!"

"Nobody threatens me and gets away with it!" Mozenrath sneered.

With his gauntlet crackling with blazing sparks, Mozenrath unleashed a blue ray of magical energy and hurled it at his adversary. Genie, however, conjured up a knight's shield in one hand and used it to block the ray and send it flying back across the room, forcing Mozenrath to duck out of the way to avoid getting hit by his own energy blast.

Genie then retaliated with a power blast of his own, generating a bolt of yellow lightening like a Greek god and hurling it at Mozenrath. The lightning bolt hit the wizard squarely in the chest and sent him sliding across the floor and up against the wall. As Mozenrath grunted in pain, he looked up and saw Genie advancing toward him. Genie was now dressed in a blue police officer's uniform and blue police hat.

"Alright, you magical juvenile delinquent," he said in a rough, no-nonsense tone of voice. "I'm placing you under arrest for a whole laundry list of charges: kidnapping, attempted murder, wearing a blue turban out of season…you're in serious trouble, young man!"

"No," Mozenrath said coldly. "The only one under arrest…is _you!"_

Mozenrath waved his gauntlet in the air and conjured up a series of chains which wrapped themselves around Genie and bound him tightly. Genie tried to break out of the chains, but found that he couldn't. Some force within the chains was resisting his power. Genie growled to himself in frustration, knowing now that these were Mozenrath's anti-magic manacles. The manacles were specifically designed to suppress the powers of any type of magical being—wizards, spirits…or genies.

Genie struggled with all his might, but it was all in vain. He felt his strength fading away. The anti-magic manacles held him fast and drained him of his energies. Jasmine gasped as she looked on in horror.

"You ridiculous blue fool!" Mozenrath scoffed. "Didn't you know I'd be ready for you? When you're in those manacles, your magic is useless."

"You'd better pray that I don't get out of these chains, Mozenrath," Genie growled.

"Oh, you won't," Mozenrath said. "At least not soon enough to be able to stop me. With you out of the way, Aladdin is finished."

The sorcerer looked down at his captive genie with a sinister leer, making Genie feel quite uncomfortable.

"When this is all over," Mozenrath said, "I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do, Genie: I'm going to siphon off your powers for myself. I'm going to kill Aladdin, but I'm going to leave you alive long enough to study your powers some more."

The wizard gave a cruel grin. "And I'm going to enjoy dissecting you as part of my research."

"Leave him alone!" Jasmine yelled. "You heartless, evil piece of dirt!"

"Be quiet, princess!" Mozenrath barked. "Unless you want to be dissected with him!"

The wizard turned away from his two prisoners and hurried back over to the alchemy furnace. He rapidly moved from one side of the furnace to the other, making adjustments to the device's mechanisms here and there while Xerxes floated close behind him.

Genie and Jasmine remained shackled on the other side of the room, and they both looked ill. Neither one of them knew what they could possibly do now.

Suddenly, a flash of multicolored patterns rushed through the lab's doorway. It was Carpet! Flying into the room at top speed, he swooped down and grabbed Mozenrath. Rolling himself up like a newspaper, Carpet ensnared Mozenrath in his clutches and carried him high into the air.

"Aaah!" Mozenrath yelled. He found himself totally wrapped up inside the rolled-up carpet and hovering near the ceiling. Mozenrath tried to break free, but Carpet's grasp was too strong. No matter how he struggled, Carpet maintained a firm grip. He couldn't even use his gauntlet because Carpet was holding him too tightly, preventing Mozenrath from raising his arm to utilize the gauntlet's energies.

By the time Mozenrath had almost managed to free his gauntlet, it was too late. Carpet abruptly dropped him out of the air, sending Mozenrath falling downward. Mozenrath crashed onto one of his laboratory tables, causing vials and papers to scatter all over the floor. Mozenrath grunted in pain as he got himself off the table and glared up at the flying carpet.

"Treacherous rug!" he screamed. "I'll make you pay for that!"

The sorcerer took aim at Carpet and discharged a blue energy burst from his gauntlet, but Carpet dodged the blast. Mozenrath threw several magic energy bolts upward, but Carpet was too fast, flying all over the room to avoid the power blasts.

As Mozenrath attempted to blast Carpet, something suddenly grabbed his turban from behind. Iago had flown up from behind and yanked Mozenrath's turban down over his eyes with his talons. The wizard clawed at the turban, trying to lift it off his face.

"Payback time!" Iago squawked. "So how do _you_ like having _your_ home invaded, Mr. Party Crasher?"

While Mozenrath was still struggling to pull the turban off his face, Abu rushed into the room and headed straight for Jasmine. The little monkey unveiled his trusty set of lock picks and prepared to use them to unlock Jasmine's shackles. Jasmine beamed happily.

With a hiss, Xerxes flew down from the air in an attempt to stop Abu from freeing Jasmine, but Carpet intercepted him. Carpet swatted the flying eel aside and sent him sprawling to the floor, which gave Abu the few seconds he needed to successfully pick the locks of Jasmine's chains and set the princess free.

Meanwhile, Mozenrath had finally managed to pull his turban off his face. Momentarily disoriented, the sorcerer turned toward the laboratory door…and saw Aladdin standing in the doorway with a fiercely determined look on his face.

"It's over, Mozenrath," Aladdin said firmly. "Release Jasmine and Genie. And I mean _now_."

"Aladdin," Mozenrath snarled through clenched teeth. "You just made a suicidal mistake. I'm going to make your death a painful one."

"You'll never win, Mozenrath!" Aladdin shot back. "Not while I'm around!"

"You won't have a choice!" the wizard shouted. He raised his magic gauntlet and fired a blue beam of magical energy at Aladdin. Using his natural agility, Aladdin leaped to one side and dodged the blast. He landed on his feet across the floor, keeping his eyes fixed on Mozenrath.

"Your childish games and antics won't save you, Aladdin," Mozenrath said. "You will surrender to me _right now_, or I'll turn your precious princess into a heap of ashes." To emphasize his point, the wizard pointed his crackling gauntlet behind him in the direction where he had left Jasmine chained to the wall.

Mozenrath smiled smugly, certain that Aladdin would now back down and beg for him to spare the princess's worthless life. To his surprise, Aladdin didn't flinch. He didn't even look worried! Instead, he just stood there calmly with a cunning grin on his face.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" Aladdin asked mockingly. "I think you're slipping, Mozenrath."

"What are you talking about?!" Mozenrath said. He turned around to where he had left Jasmine…and saw that she was no longer there.

"What?!" he sputtered. "Where did she-?"

"Looking for me, 'sweetheart'?" said a familiar voice. Mozenrath spun around in the direction where the voice had come from…just in time to see Jasmine's fist about to meet his face.

_Pow!_ Jasmine punched Mozenrath hard, sending him stumbling backwards until he lost his footing and fell over, collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Jasmine grinned. She had _so_ looked forward to doing that.

From where he lay, Mozenrath furiously unleashed another burst of magic power from his glove at Aladdin and Jasmine, but the two heroes sidestepped the blast. Mozenrath glared up at Aladdin from the floor.

"This was your doing, Aladdin!" he accused. "You planned this whole thing so that I'd be distracted while the princess was being set free!"

"You got that right," Aladdin smiled. "All I needed was for all my friends to play their parts."

"Way to go, Al!" Genie shouted from the other side of the room.

Mozenrath picked himself up from the floor and stood up again. "It's too bad that all your efforts were for nothing," he sneered. "My dimensional transporter may still be broken, but I can still create a couple more black crystals from my furnace to finish all of you!"

Aladdin dove at Mozenrath, hoping to keep the sorcerer as far away from the alchemy furnace as possible. He tackled Mozenrath, and the two of them started grappling with each other across the laboratory floor. Mozenrath tried to aim his gauntlet at Aladdin, but Aladdin gripped the wizard's arm tightly to prevent him from using the gauntlet's power. Aladdin and Mozenrath continued to grapple, each attempting to push the other off balance by grasping and shoving with as much force as possible. Aladdin struggled persistently, determined to prevent Mozenrath from reaching the furnace and to forestall the creation of any more black crystals.

Unfortunately, Mozenrath suddenly managed to pull his gauntlet free from Aladdin's grasp, and as soon as he did, the sorcerer pointed the glove straight at his opponent. Before Aladdin could react, Mozenrath discharged a powerful blue energy burst from the glove, blasting Aladdin all the way across the room. The impact sent Aladdin sailing through the air and slammed him into the wall. Aladdin's body collapsed on the floor, and he groaned in pain.

On the other side of the room, Jasmine and Carpet came charging, attempting to assault Mozenrath from the rear. But before they could do anything, Mozenrath spun around and fired off another powerful magic blast, sending a huge energy wave sweeping across the room which knocked Jasmine and Carpet backwards. Jasmine and Carpet fell to the ground and did not stir for several seconds. Then Jasmine, moaning with pain, attempted to pick herself up, but found that she was too shaken from the impact to move.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin desperately cried out from across the room. He urgently wanted to run over to help her, but he was still dazed from the force of Mozenrath's magic blast. Aladdin grunted as he struggled to shake off the throbbing in his head.

When Aladdin finally made it to his feet, he saw that he was too late to stop Mozenrath from activating the alchemy furnace. The wizard had already powered up the machine with an energy surge from his gauntlet. The furnace went to work, running its mechanisms into action. Seconds later, two more of the menacing, floating black crystals emerged from the door of the furnace and sailed into the air. The two magic crystals floated through the air toward Aladdin, hovering threateningly overhead.

_Oh great_, Aladdin thought. _I'm really gonna need some luck right about now._


	5. Chapter 5

Across the room, Jasmine still lay on the floor, unconscious from the force blast. Abu and Iago were now gathered around her. The monkey and the parrot hovered around Jasmine and tried to revive her, gently patting her on the hands and head in an attempt to awaken her.

"Jasmine!" Iago said in a loud whisper. "Jasmine, come on! Say something!" Abu chattered away has he patted Jasmine's wrist.

Iago took a deep breath, exuding purpose. He was determined to save Jasmine. She had done so much for him, helping to guide him to a new and happier life, and to leave behind his former life of servitude to Jafar. Iago didn't like to be overly emotional, but he was _not_ going to stand by and leave Jasmine in harm's way.

"Come on, Abu!" he whispered. "We've gotta wake Jas! Keep trying!"

Jasmine still seemed to be struggling to fully awaken from her slight trance. Iago and Abu continued to try to restore her to full consciousness. They would have liked to have had Genie's help, but Genie was still trapped in Mozenrath's anti-magic manacles. The two animals were relieved that Mozenrath was currently too busy dealing with Aladdin on the other side of the room to notice them.

"Come on, princess! Don't black out on us now!" Iago pleaded. "The wizard brat's gonna sic his stupid crystals on us again!"

Meanwhile, Aladdin was doing his best to avoid the two floating black crystals that Mozenrath had just unleashed from the alchemy furnace. He ran desperately from side to side across the marble floor as the crystals floated after him. The crystals fired off several white energy rays, attempting to snare Aladdin, but Aladdin managed to dodge them. But he knew he couldn't dodge the crystals forever. Sooner or later, they would catch him. Aladdin knew that he had to use the magical golden sword that Genie had forged for him. Its power had been specially designed to combat the black crystals' magic. Aladdin drew the golden sword from his belt and kept running out range of the two crystals while Mozenrath stood nearby.

"You see how foolish you were to think you could beat me, Aladdin?" Mozenrath was saying. "I have your genie, and now those crystals will take care of you for good!"

Aladdin clenched his teeth as he darted away from the crystals. There was no way he was going to let Mozenrath win. Not in a million years. No matter what he had to do, he was going to stop the sorcerer and protect all his friends. Aladdin cared too much about those he loved to let everything slip away from him now. Nothing was going to keep him from saving them.

Right now, the important thing was that he was keeping the crystals away from Jasmine and the others. As long as he was the crystals' primary target, he could draw the crystals toward them and keep them away from the other side of the room, where Jasmine and the others were. Now all he had to do was survive the crystals himself.

Aladdin held his golden sword up high and slashed at the flying crystals. The crystals flew out of the way while Aladdin kept swinging the blade at them. He sliced through the air at the floating objects, successfully fending them off but unable to actually hit the crystals. They were flying too fast.

_There's one thing I can do,_ Aladdin thought. _It's risky, but I've got no choice._ He intended to let one of the crystals catch him in an energy ray, and then, when it had drawn him in close enough, he would slash the crystal with the sword.

Aladdin stopped dodging and stood still. Instantly, one of the black crystals fired off a white energy beam which engulfed Aladdin and started levitating his body into the air. Aladdin felt the gripping power of the ray grasp him from head to toe as it pulled him up off the ground and toward the hovering crystal in the air.

As soon as he was inches away from the dark object, Aladdin suddenly raised the golden scimitar aloft and swiftly brought it down with all his might against the black crystal. The sword pierced the crystalline structure, cracking its surface and slicing right through it. The black crystal broke apart in midair and then fell downward. The white energy beam disappeared, freeing Aladdin, who dropped from the air and landed gracefully on his feet.

"Yes!" Aladdin exalted happily as he landed on the floor. The pieces of the broken black crystal crashed to the ground nearby. The second floating crystal was still hovering in the air and was doing nothing; it seemed to be momentarily confused by the sudden turn of events.

When Mozenrath saw, to his dismay, that Aladdin was winning the fight, he raised his magic gauntlet and prepared to blast Aladdin. But he never got a chance to open fire.

_Pow!_ From out of nowhere, Jasmine delivered a spinning round kick which struck Mozenrath in the ribs and sent him sprawling to the ground. Thanks to Abu and Iago, the princess had regained consciousness and had recovered. Mozenrath lay on the floor groaning with pain and clutching his ribs desperately.

"You like that, you brute?" Jasmine sneered. "Inflicting pain isn't so nice when you're on the receiving end, is it?"

With Mozenrath down, Aladdin took advantage of his opportunity and leaped upward at the second black crystal, brandishing his gold sword. He slashed the crystal as hard as he could, and the golden blade seamlessly sliced the floating object in two. The two crystal fragments fell harmlessly onto the floor, and Aladdin landed safely.

"Mozenrath's creepy things don't look so scary now," he chuckled.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine shouted. "Destroy the furnace! Now!"

Aladdin didn't hesitate. He ran past the injured Mozenrath, who was still clutching his ribs after Jasmine's kick, and made straight for the alchemy furnace. Jumping right at the machine, Aladdin raised the golden sword over his head and plunged the blade straight into the furnace's mechanical workings. The magic scimitar cut right through the furnace's metallic surface as if it were made of cardboard. With a searing slice, the blade completely severed the metal workings which connected the mechanisms of the dimensional transporter to the crystal-production apparatus. The machine smoked and hissed, and then broke down completely.

"NO!" Mozenrath yelled. "You didn't! It took me forever to build that machine!"

Mozenrath desperately ran across the room to look over the remains of his alchemy furnace. While the wizard was thus distracted, Aladdin ran back to the other side of the room, intending to free Genie from his chains. At that moment, a side door to the lab opened, and two green-faced mamluks rushed in, both carrying scimitar swords. The two undead guards tried to rush Aladdin, but Aladdin used his golden sword to cut the two mamluks pieces.

Then Aladdin used the enchanted blade to sever the chains holding Genie. The sword cut through the anti-magic manacles as if they were nothing at all, and Genie was free.

"Oh YEAH!" Genie exalted as he stretched his arms. "Man, does it feel good to be back in action! Thanks, Al!"

Mozenrath had been looking over what was left of his destroyed machine when he turned and saw that Genie had been freed.

"My genie!" he cried. "He was supposed to be mine!"

"I've got news for you, mister," Genie said as he and Aladdin stormed across the room. "I don't belong to _anybody_!"

Genie and Aladdin joined their companions in confronting Mozenrath. Xerxes, the flying brown eel, tried to attack Abu again, but the little monkey grabbed the eel by the tail and slammed him against a wall. Xerxes collapsed unconscious.

Now all six companions—Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Carpet, Abu and Iago—had Mozenrath cornered.

"Give it up, Mozenrath," Aladdin demanded as he glared at the sorcerer. "You can't beat us."

Mozenrath snarled. "You think you've beaten me?" he said. "Well you're wrong! I still hold the trump card. If you don't surrender immediately, I'll destroy all the civilians I captured with the other crystals—including the children!"

Aladdin winced. He knew that Mozenrath wouldn't think twice about killing a few innocent bystanders to get what he wanted. If the wizard had hostages, this was serious trouble. What could he do?

Jasmine, however, didn't look at all worried. "Oh, Mozenrath," she said in a sweet, sing-song tone of voice. "Did you lose something?"

Jasmine reached into a pocket in her trousers and pulled out a black crystal. It was one of the crystals Mozenrath had used to capture a civilian in Agrabah.

"We decided to take these off your hands," Iago said with smirk as he pulled another crystal out from under his feathers.

Abu chattered in agreement as he pulled two more crystals out from underneath his red vest. Carpet revealed another crystal hidden behind his back.

"What?!" Mozenrath gasped. "But how did you—?"

"We took the crystals from your cabinet while you were busy trying to capture Aladdin on the other side of the room," Jasmine said. "When I regained consciousness, I had Iago, Abu and Carpet help me to remove them from the cabinet and hide them."

Jasmine revealed that in her other pocket, she had the crystal containing her father.

She smiled at Mozenrath. "Thank you so much, by the way, for telling me where the hostages were. It made things so much easier."

Aladdin grinned. His friends had come through for him yet again.

"No!" Mozenrath raged. "This isn't fair!"

Iago flew over to Jasmine and landed on her shoulder. "That was pretty smooth operating on your part, princess," he said with a grin.

"I'll take those crystals!" Genie proclaimed. Magically, he levitated all of the black crystals containing hostages and placed them all in a bag he had conjured up. Then he made the bag disappear, saying, "Those hostages are all safe where I've got them!"

"Well, Mozenrath," Aladdin said, "it looks like you're almost out of options."

Mozenrath knew this was true. He _was_ almost out of options. There was only one thing left he could do.

"Oh, you people are going to pay for this!" he hissed. "I'm going to finish you off with a power that you can't hope to survive!"

The sorcerer fired off a blue beam of energy from his gauntlet at the mirror on the wall. Jasmine saw that it was the same mirror he had used to contact the dark spirits from another dimension. As if on cue, the mirror gleamed with white light and discharged a barrage of crackling energy back at Mozenrath. The wizard's body began to glow with white light as soon as the energy engulfed him.

"Ha!" he shouted. "Now I am empowered with the magic of the dark spirits! The same spirits who helped me to energize my furnace have now given me the power to destroy all of you at once!"

Mozenrath unleashed a fusillade of powerful magical energy at Aladdin and the gang. The heroes gasped and ran out of the way.

"Watch out!" Aladdin shouted. He hurriedly herded his friends behind some pillars for shelter from the lightning blasts.

* * *

Abu and Iago yelped in terror. Mozenrath was aiming a magic blast straight at them! The monkey and the parrot scurried behind the pillars as the energy burst hit the floor behind them. Abu leaped into Aladdin's arms, while Iago ducked behind Jasmine's shoulders.

"We're gonna get dynamited!" Iago wailed.

"Oh no, we won't," Aladdin assured. "Genie, put up a magic barrier to protect us!"

"Sure, Al!" Genie said. "But I can't keep it up forever. This is really powerful magic that Mozenrath's using!"

"Don't worry," Aladdin said confidently. "I've got a plan. Jasmine, did Mozenrath tell you that those spirits were helping him?"

"Yes," said Jasmine. "He communicates with them through the mirror. He needed their power to help him with his plan."

"Then I think I know what to do," Aladdin grinned.

Genie was holding up a magical blue force field to protect the gang from Mozenrath's energy bolts. It required a great deal of his strength to maintain the barrier against the wizard's persistent attacks.

"Genie," Aladdin said, "can your magic make it possible for those spirits in the other dimension to hear things through the mirror?"

"Sure I can, Al," said Genie. "But what good will that do?"

"Trust me," Aladdin said. "Just make it happen while I distract Mozenrath."

"But Al, he'll kill you!" Genie shouted.

"Not if I make this work," Aladdin said determinedly. He ran outside Genie's protective barrier and confronted the wizard.

"Not a wise move, Aladdin," Mozenrath said as he generated more white energy. "You should have stayed hidden behind your pet genie."

"You mean just like how you're hiding behind a bunch of magic spirits?" Aladdin countered. "I always knew you were incompetent, Mozenrath, so of course you had to bring in second stringers for help."

While Aladdin was talking, Genie silently aimed a bit of magic at the mirror hanging on the wall, enabling anyone on the other side of the mirror to overhear the conversation between Aladdin and Mozenrath.

"This was all part of my plan," Mozenrath was saying. "I'm just using the spirits until I don't need them anymore. After I conquer the Seven Deserts, I'll drop those spirits like yesterday's trash and keep all the power for myself!"

Mozenrath fired a forceful energy beam, which Aladdin just managed to dodge.

"This is why I'm going to be victorious!" Mozenrath declared. "I've prepared for everything! Nothing can—!" Then suddenly he stopped talking. Something was wrong.

Mozenrath felt the dark spirits' power within him weakening somehow. He could no longer control the magic inside of him. The wizard desperately turned toward the mirror on the wall. He saw that the mirror now displayed a series of angry, evil-looking pairs of red eyes staring through the glass.

"You have dared to betray us!" a deep, menacing voice said from inside the mirror. "You are no longer worthy of sharing in the power of our world. Henceforth, our aid to you is ended, and the magic bestowed upon you shall be stripped away!"

Magical power emanated from the mirror and zapped Mozenrath's body. Aladdin saw that the white glow around the wizard's body was fading. The evil spirits' power was draining the magic that had been given to Mozenrath. The sorcerer yelled impotently as the spirits' otherworldly magic was taken from him. Then the mirror stopped glowing, fell from the wall, and shattered into pieces on the marble floor.

Mozenrath, severely weakened from the power drainage, collapsed on the ground. He tried to stir, but he could not get up.

"Yes! It worked!" Aladdin cheered. He then seized Mozenrath's magic gauntlet and pulled it off his arm. He winced slightly when he saw the sorcerer's skeletal, fleshless arm underneath. _Why would someone do this to himself?_ he thought.

Aladdin ran to the nearest window and hurled the gauntlet out into the foothills of black sand outside. That would keep Mozenrath busy for a while trying to recover the glove.

"My gauntlet!" Mozenrath shouted as he lay on the floor. He tried to crawl to get his hands on some other magic weapon he might be able to use on Aladdin instead, but Genie cornered him and conjured up a series of anti-magic manacles which bound the wizard firmly and rendered him powerless.

"That'll hold ya for a while, Wonder Boy," Genie grinned. "You really need to take a break from the whole conquer-the-world routine."

"No! It's not fair!" Mozenrath growled helplessly as he pounded the floor and struggled futilely in the anti-magic chains.

"Well, Mozenrath, it looks like it's gonna be a nice day for the Seven Deserts after all," Aladdin said smugly. "Nobody will have to put up with you."

Mozenrath glared angrily from the floor, but he knew he had lost. "This isn't over, Aladdin," he hissed. "I'll get you someday. I promise you that!"

"No you won't," Aladdin shot back. "As long as you choose to do evil instead of good, you'll always lose. You've got no one to blame but yourself. If you come back, we'll be ready for you, as always."

Aladdin turned away from the sorcerer and rejoined his friends. Jasmine happily threw her arms out and embraced him passionately.

"Aladdin, you did it!" she beamed.

"No, we all did," Aladdin said. "I never would have succeeded without help from all of you."

"But don't sell yourself short, Al!" Genie said excitedly. "You led the way. That's the kind of future sultan I'm talkin' about!"

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin said with a small smile. "Now let's get back to Agrabah so we can free the hostages from those crystals!"

Aladdin and the gang leaped onto Carpet's back and flew out the window. They were all thankful to be finally leaving the Land of the Black Sand. Knowing that he and his friends had kept Agrabah safe once again, Aladdin breathed with relief. Now all they had to do was liberate the captives from their crystal prisons.


End file.
